


An Illusionary Power

by Im_A_Person



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama & Romance, Epic, Horror, Other, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:42:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 151,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25255603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Im_A_Person/pseuds/Im_A_Person
Summary: Izuku Midoriya decides to change his view about things, especially about heroes. So what if he was quirkless? He'd use that to his advantage! He'd fix the corrupt system of heroics, even without a real power! By. Any. Means. Necessary. Rated M for many reasons. Villain! Quirkless! Mysterio! Izuku.
Relationships: Kodai Yui/Midoriya Izuku
Comments: 10
Kudos: 56





	1. A Change in Perspective

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome! I thank you all for tuning in. I should probably note that this is a repost from FF.net. Anything from here to chapter 8 is a repost. I'm trying to widen the reach of my stories so others can also enjoy them. Anyway, enjoy!

A/N: PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS A REPOST! ANYTHING FROM HERE TO CHAPTER 8 WAS PRE-WRITTEN!

This is something new. I've had this idea sorta brewing up for a while and I wasn't exactly sure how I was going to tackle it. Honestly, I still don't, in some parts. I do have a general idea of what I'm doing though, it's just filler and setup that need the most work in the writing phase.

This first chapter will be the test, so to speak. It's the hardest chapter to typically write in any story, so there's that. I've always been a Mysterio fan, and the Far From Home movie did a really good job with him (expect some elements from that movie). I really hope this works out.

I'm going to clarify a few things before this officially starts:

One: Izuku will never be getting One for All in this story, so he will be 100% quirkless. One for All will be passed on, however to whom I will not say. I will say though, it's probably not going to be Mirio.

Two: The sludge incident will be pushed up a few years, mainly for plot convenience. Izuku needs time to learn what he needs to learn and whatnot.

Three: This story will, for the most part, be told in Izuku's perspective. He will not be attending UA, so information on canon events such as the USJ attack and the Sports Festival will remain limited. However for the Sports Festival, I'm going to have Izuku take an interest in it though, and probably watch it, though I'm not going to retell the whole thing.

Four: Regarding Katsuki, he is a problem (mainly with how I'm going to write him). I mean, he's going to be the main reason this alternate timeline will happen. Though, in this story, he will be different, in a better way, at least when the main part takes off. I'll try not to bash him too hard.

Five: Regarding villains, I am probably going to add original ones from time to time. They're probably going to mostly be one-offs though, and I'm definitely not gonna forget about our canon MHA version of the boys.

Six: Regarding the Infinity Stones, I'm on the fence about whether or not I should or shouldn't include them. I have interesting plot points in mind if I do (especially with the Reality Stone). Let me know what you guys think about that.

Seven: Regarding a pairing, I'm just going to go out and say now that I'm not going to take suggestions. I have a pairing in mind already, but I'm not 100% sure if it's going to take off or not. We'll see. It's going to be an underrated pairing though.

Eight: No, Spider-Man will not be in this story, at least not now or anytime soon, sorry to disappoint anyone. However, like I said in number five, I may incorporate some villains. I've been thinking of someone like Vulture or Electro based, not sure yet though. We should probably get through the first phase of the story first, right?

Nine: Eri has yet to be decided on the role she'll play in the future. I'm aging her up, that much is certain, and no she won't be the love interest. We'll have to see what happens coming up, and if anyone has suggestions then I'm willing to take them in a review.

Ten: I'm also considering adding a Multiverse, so to speak. This means other Izukus and stuff. I know a lot of other people do this already, but I've always been a fan of that sorta thing and it actually goes well with the stuff I'm trying to incorporate. Let me know if you guys are up for that as well.

Alright, that's enough for now. I'm going to get on with the story before I bore you people to death.

Disclaimer: Nothing besides the story concept belong to me. Marvel and MHA do not belong to me.

\---

Midoriya Izuku. It was the name of a green haired, freckled boy that would go on to inherit one of the most powerful quirks in his time and go on to be the greatest hero that ever lived. His hero name, Deku, once used to bring him misery was turned into something he could instead be proud of and give people hope. From a bullied boy to an inspirational hero that saved the world.

This is not the direction this story took, not one bit.

It all started when a young boy found out he was quirkless.

"You should probably give it up."

It was then the heart of a dreaming young boy, shattered. He dropped his All Might action figure to the floor as his body unintentionally freezed. He became lost in his thoughts as his mother and the doctor conversed about his condition.

Izuku was smart, he was aware of what the word 'condition' meant. It meant something was wrong with him, and from what he could gather, it was the fact he was never going to have something that made everyone else so special.

A quirk.

After that, he would only watch one particular All Might video nonstop. It was something he could cling to in this desperate time, desperately reaching out for something to cling his heart to. His mom didn't even try to encourage him, only repeating the phrase 'I'm sorry' whilst hugging him tightly and crying. He couldn't help but hurt a little more because of that, and he ended up wondering if she had some kind of changed opinion over him.

That was the first time he became utterly broken.

The second? That was arguably a bit worse than the first. It was when he had told his best friend, the one that he had grown up with since birth, about it.

"Pfft, quirkless? What hero is gonna need someone like you? Give it up."

That's what sparked years of torture and torment. Years of hurt and pain on both a physical and emotional level. Years of being later a useless, worthless Deku. Years of being an outcast and a loner, all for one reason. Being quirkless.

He still dreamt though. Heroes were still amazing in their own right, and through the years he never gave up hope on becoming like one of those great heroes, like All Might, a hero that said anyone could be a hero. That's what makes the third thing sting ever so slightly more than the rest.

A school day at Aldera Middle School has just ended, and Izuku couldn't help but smile. A recent incident had made it all over the headlines and the boy possessed an almost unnatural eagerness to write it all down in one of his many notebooks. It was a natural hobby he picked up a little over a year ago, and he even surprised himself with how into it he had gotten.

Just as he grabbed his notebook and prepared to put it in his bag, a hand reached over and grabbed it out of his hands. "So, Deku, I hear you still have a certain dream of becoming a hero."

The now petrified boy glanced up only to see a scolding face looking down at him. Katsuki Bakugo, Izuku's former childhood friend and current bully, subtly waved the notebook in front of him. Izuku began to unconsciously sweat bullets and give a small reach forward.

Katsuki was always a popular child. It was all due to his powerful quirk, Explosion. He was always praised and followed, almost like a sort of godly figure, and because of that people followed him to Izuku, and bullied him. That never did stop Izuku from following Katsuki though, much to his disdain.

"Hey, Katsuki, what's that?" Another boy approached from behind, questioning his leader curiously with a smirk on his face.

Katsuki gave the journal a glance, "Huh? 'Hero Analysis for the Future 13'?"

The goons behind Katsuki mockingly laughed at Izuku's expense and Katsuki still held the notebook.

"P-Please g-give it back! I-It's fine, right?" All Izuku got in response was an explosion greeting itself to his notebook. Izuku was once again left hurt, on the verge of tears after seeing his notebook being blown up.

Katsuki then tossed Izuku's prized notebook out the window. Izuku jumped and flailed his arms in dismay. The spiky blonde fixed him with a fierce glare, "I really don't get why it hasn't gotten into your head at this point…" he trailed off as he backhanded the green haired boy, making him fall to the ground due to his frail structure. The explosive spiky haired blonde glared down at him. "I don't know why you still think you have a chance, just give it up." He then crouched down and picked Izuku up by the hair, lifting him up a small ways. "Do it before I make you do it." He popped off a few small explosions near the greenettes face for good measure before releasing him.

It was then the trio began to walk away from the boy on the ground. The two lackeys laughed and began calling him pathetic, among other things. Izuku wasn't really listening though, as he laid prone on the ground, his fists balled and tried his hardest not to let the floodgates open.

Katsuki suddenly stopped walking only a foot or two away from the door, and with a smile he turned around with a wicked smile. "You know, there's a quick and easy way to get a quirk." Izuku perked up after hearing that, despite his gut telling him what was about to be said would hurt. "Take a swan dive straight off the roof, and believe you'll be born with a quirk in your next life."

The goons laughed while Katsuki gave a small chuckle before leaving the room. That's when Izuku finally let the floodgates open, and the tears began to flow.

Eventually, he gathered his bearings, wiped away the tears and left the room with his belongings. He went outside to try and recover his notebook, which luckily landed in a small box of water (maybe not water, is it sewage?), with fish attempting to eat it.

Izuku grabbed the soaked and burnt notebook as the fish swam away. He looked at it, reminiscing in old memories before walking away from the school and toward his home.

He soon found himself under a bridge, which unknown to him was notorious in other universes.

He stopped walking, looking down at his own shadow as his grip unconsciously tightened around his notebook. 'Maybe they're right, I should just jump, maybe I'll be more useful in my next life with a quick instead of a useless-' he kicked a rock with his right foot, making it skip ahead. He sighed sadly, 'Deku'.

He let out an emotion filled sigh as he walked forward again. Just before exiting the tunnel however, he caught a strange noise filling his ears. Curiosity killed the greenette as he turned around to investigate.

His eyes grew as he began to tremble at witnessing the rising of sludge from a manhole nearby. The boy immediately knew it was a villain, as it began to clump into a larger blob forming glaring eyes that looked down at him. A mouth formed into a devious smile as it spoke, "A medium-sized invisibility cloak…"

The boy immediately tried to make a run for it, but all was for naught as the sludge villain jumped and immediately pounced on his prey. "Don't worry. I'm just going to take over your body. Calm down. It'll only hurt for about 45 seconds-"

He spoke more after that but Izuku's senses started to fail him, as his vision blurred and his hearing became distorted. He could barely render what was around him. He couldn't breathe and his eyes began to water as the sludge filled into his mouth in an attempt to steal his body. He desperately and reflexively tried to grab what was over his mouth, but to no success. The sludge villain made a snarky comment about how he was fluid, and thus couldn't be grabbed, among other things, but Izuku couldn't understand him. He began to feel his strength deplete as he desperately yelled for help within his own mind. Eventually he closed his eyes, tears still flowing, partly accepting this fate. Perhaps now everyone would get what they wanted, was something he thought.

That's when, suddenly, the manhole cover behind them blew open with a cloud clang. The sludge villain turned around with wide eyes. The boy had since lost his senses completely, now fully unaware of what was happening around him. The sludge villain began to panic as it attacked the newcomer, only to get blown away a mere moment later by an extreme gust of wind.

The boy was released and he opened his eyes, his senses returning. His vision fell in and out of blur, but he was able to see the image of the number one hero before he completely blacked out.

When he awoke, All Might, his favorite hero, was slapping him in the face repeatedly and at a rapid speed to attempt and wake him. "Thank goodness," he commented. Izuku scooched back in a hurry and panic at seeing the hero in front of him. A part of him was in shock and another in disbelief. "I'm glad you're okay," All Might continued. He then apologized that Izuku had gotten caught up in his villain fighting. He then thanked the boy and showed off the captured, and promptly knocked out, sludge villain in a bottle.

Izuku was still freaking out about how he was actually in the presence of such a renowned hero, not to mention his all time favorite. As Izuku was about to ask for an autograph, All Might pointed out he had already down it in his notebook in which Izuku promptly freaked out and began thanking and complimenting him.

All Might was then about to leave. "Well, I need to take this guy to the police station," he said as he pat the bottle in his pocket. The small and frail green haired boy began to internally panic. There were still so many things that he needed to ask him!

So, just as All Might took off, he patched himself into his leg. They then sprung up into the sky. It didn't take long for All Might to notice something was wrong and quickly look down at his legs. "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey," he commented before gently trying to get fanatic off of his legs.

"If I… let go now… I'll… I'll die…!" Was Izuku's protest. All Might quickly found that he was correct and stopped trying to shove the boy off. They then landed on a nearby building

"Good grief, I'm sure if you talk to the people downstairs, I'm sure they'll let you down," All Might said as he began to walk away from the recuperating boy. "I seriously am outta time, so I really must go."

Izuku quickly recovered, standing up with sweat pouring down from his body as he tried to go after the hero. "Wait! Um.." He tried reaching out to the hero, despite the fact his back was turned and walking the other direction.

"No! I will not wait!" All Might continued walking away, and Izuku's hand began to fall as he remembered everything about his childhood. Everyone criticizing him for his lack of a quick and so-called idiotic dream of becoming a hero. This was his last chance, he needed to ask All Might! The one who said anyone could be a hero if they tried hard enough!

"Even if I don't have a Quirk, can I become a hero?" He quickly spouted out. All Might stopped walking. "Can someone without a Quirk be like you?"

All Might turned around to look at the boy before suddenly disappearing in a puff of smoke. Izuku was shocked, to say the least, and when the smoke cleared he was even more so. All Might had essentially deflated.

All Might went on to explain that he was, in fact, All Might and that it was similar to guys at a pool flexing and posturing. He showed the boy his injury, a crippling weakness the hero had gotten five years ago that shortened his hero time to a mere three hours a day.

All Might told him, he can't simply say he could be a hero without power. Izuku was shocked and saddened, he knew what this meant. "If you truly wish to help others, then you could become a police officer. They're often teased because they get villains delivered to their doorstep, but that is also a fine occupation." All Might then opened the door to leave, but he didn't go until one last thing was said. "It's not bad to dream. But you also have to consider what's realistic, young man." With that said, he closed the door behind him and left.

Still on the roof, Izuku couldn't help but let loose a few tears as his teeth grit and a fist became ever so slightly tighter. He was frustrated, that much was certain. Nobody believed he could do anything. Not his best friend, the teachers at school, not even his own mother. Now though, not even All Might, the number one hero, the hero that said anyone can become a hero, told him no. You need power.

An explosion in this distance brought him out of his thoughts. He became shocked and began to rush toward the door geeking out about what heroes would show up. But, he stopped. He remembered what All Might said. What they all said. Then, he made the decision to go home.

Though, on his way home, he walked by the site of the villain attack. He didn't know why exactly he had shown up there, but he assumed it was by a force of habit. He felt meaningless and without a purpose as he sadly approached the crowd of people.

He managed to look between them enough to see a familiar sludge villain; his eyes widened. Why was he there? Didn't All Might have him? Then it occurred to him, if it weren't for him latching onto All Might, he would still have the villain in custody. It was his fault. He caused this attack.

"Why aren't the heroes doing anything?" A person nearby asked another. The other person looked over to the questioner to respond.

"They can't; apparently the villain caught a junior high schooler and it's been like that for a while."

Izuku looked more closely into the chaos, more specifically the sludge villain. He began to wonder how someone was able to bear the suffocation long enough to be able to go on for 'a while'.

Izuku further blamed himself as people spoke about how the villain had somehow escaped All Might. He was useless.

There was nothing he could do here; so with that thought he left the scene, his head hung low as tears threatened to release once again.

It didn't take him long for him to reach his home, in which his mother worryingly asked him if he was alright. He didn't give her too much of a response, but he did display a fake smile and with hands held up assured her that he was alright. He then retreated to his room.

He couldn't help but get on the computer and watch the video that had once sparked his dream to become a hero. He only watched it once, though, because the emotions were just too much for him to handle. All he wanted was to save someone with a smile, but instead-

"You're just a useless Deku!"

"You should probably give it up."

"What can you do? You're quirkless!"

"I can't simply say you can be a hero without power."

He unconsciously slammed his hands on the desk, actually managing to hurt himself. He was too frustrated for those thoughts, and figured he may soon lose himself.

He took out his notebook, flipping to an open page and thought about writing about some kind of new hero or something. But he just couldn't feel up to it, at all.

He, instead, thought about when he was really little and used to watch really old television shows about fictional heroes, predating the era of quirks. He used to get lost in them when he was little, always fantasizing about being a hero similarly to them.

He remembered this one hero. He was dark and smart, always able to uncover a mystery and take down any bad guy. The best part about him? He was quirkless! He was a master strategist and only used his own custom gadgets to help him fight, but he knew all types of fighting techniques too.

He thought further into heroes than he really had before, as he became lost in his own mind. It really wasn't fair, was it? People like Katsuki Bakugo, who tormented people 'below him' his entire life, get to apply to the best hero school in the country. Someone who had an attitude of a small child not getting what they want, always attacking and spouting 'DIE' at anyone who opposes him. Was that really fair?

No, it wasn't. The more he thought of that, the more angry he became. The comic he was holding began to wrinkle as his hands tightened around it. Now that he thought about it, people became heroes for fame and fortune nowadays too, didn't they? People like Uwabami only wanted fame and public spotlight from being a hero. People like Mt. Lady craved the attention and glory of it. The heroes at the scene earlier only stood there being useless as someone was suffocating!

They were all fakes, not heroes. They didn't deserve to be a hero, none of them! They didn't take it seriously at all!

He instantly got drawn out of his thoughts as a sudden noise entered his ears. A rip, to be more precise. He looked down at his hands to see he had been unconsciously gripping at a sheet in his notebook, which was slightly ripped now due to his own anger. He tried his best to straighten it out so he could fix it with tape.

He got out tape and began to fix the page as his mind wandered once again. He thought about it more and more, about how the heroes of old were able to do so much more with their kind and prowess and not just some power they were born with.

He ended up thinking: could he do it too? Was it actually possible to be something big without a superpower?

He vaguely remembered some old comics from when he was younger. They didn't have the money to buy any, but Izuku would often go to the store and browse their many selections of old comic books. There were multiple heroes and villains that utilized technology to make them a feared combatant, like one used gear and weapons, another an armored suit, and he vaguely remembered a villain that used special effects as well as illusions to manipulate his enemy. There were many more but those were the big ones that had always stood out to Izuku, especially after he found out he was Quirkless.

That's when it hit him. How could I have been so blind? He gave a frustrated chuckle to himself as he thought about the one that could help him. Technology. Technology was so advanced now that the potential uses for it could be almost limitless. Hell, without quirks even existing they would've colonized Mars by now.

But this was simple yet complicated. Heroes used support gear all of the time to help them fine-tune their Quirks, and help them hone their strengths and funnel their weaknesses out. For a Quirkless person, it would depend on what they were trying to do. For strength, they would need weaponry of some sort: guns, bows, melee, with more branches of custom options.

But to Izuku brute strength wasn't necessary enough. It was all about the mind. If you could outsmart your opponent and prepare ahead of time, you could win almost every time. Though, it would depend on the opponent and what mind games are played. But he thought, no, knew, that was the most effective way to win a fight.

Maybe instead of hitting someone's physical weakness, someone pokes their mental ones. You get them stirred up, off-balanced, confused. You could use their worst fears against them. Hallucinations, hypnosis, trickery, are just a few examples of accomplishing that.

He could learn those things and implement their ideas into different things. Izuku knew he would have to learn them, and learn how to build certain things, but he knew he was smart; he knew he could accomplish the task.

Screw being a hero. They were corrupt and hypocritical. He couldn't take them seriously anymore, he hated them. With what he knows now, what he's figured out, he could purge the fakes out. He needed to climb to the top, use the influence of a top hero to manipulate the standards and rules. He'd need to play the part of a hero.

This was something he could do. He knew he could do this. He would use this… illusionary power to show them- no, show the world that Quirkless isn't helpless. He would fix the corrupt hero system and bring it back to what it was supposed to be, while encouraging others like him they could step up and be something greater.

He'd show them all...

By. Any. Means. Necessary.

\---

A/N: Well that's the first chapter. Mainly setup for what's to come soon, and the next chapter will pick up where this one left off, so that will be setup for the main event too. The third chapter is probably where we'll see what's happening in other perspectives, and where the main story will start.

Sorry for any grammatical errors. I don't have an editor so things are probably going to end up slipping through from time to time.

Anyway let me know what you think of this first chapter and if the setup was pretty good. I know it's nothing exciting yet, but that's what next chapter will start doing. Anyway, thanks for reading!

Edit: Fixed the chapter to get rid of any direct referencing to comics and stuff of the sort. Trying to make it more realistic to the BMHA universe in which Izuku is smart enough to come up with the idea of being Mysterio himself without directly seeing his character anywhere.

Edit 2: I added a little preview for whats's to come in the future of the story.

Edit 3: Preview has been removed due to changes. It may be added back in at a later date but as of now it is being removed.


	2. Start of Mysterio

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku starts to develop his new persona.

A/N: The first chapter seems to have gone pretty smoothly. I'm hoping those that have decided to stick around enjoy what's to come.

Like I said before, this chapter will be the last of Izuku's origin (actually a two parter I'm a liar) before we move to the next two major players in the game. Next chapter won't be as long as this one (definitely won't). Next chapter will most likely be a Bakugo chapter to show his development from where the last chapter left off. The chapter after that will showcase the One for All successor, their story, how they met All Might, etc..

You'll find out who that is in this chapter though but I'm not gonna tell you because it's a surprise.

Sorry, I know this is full of boring origin story stuff so far, but you can't have a proper story without it usually.

I've also got an idea of what I want to do with Eri in the future. So, yeah.

Another notice, 1-A and 1-B will not have the same students in them as in canon. But, don't worry, I plan on making both classes shine, or at least get involved equally in the main story.

For the names, there's going to be a reason why I say "Izuku" for him and "Bakugo" for him and other characters. In japan you say someone's first name when you're close with them so I decided to do that for the people you, as the readers, are close to, and will be in detention be the same for the character you're following. Say, if we are following Bakugo, I'll probably just call him "Katsuki" since we're following him. I hope that made sense.

One last thing, I hope you guys don't disapprove of my One for All successor choice. It's something that's never been done before and I have a good backstory planned for it, as well as the person themselves. It's unique. I hope you enjoy what's coming in the future!

Anyway, here we go!

\---

'Well that was a bit over dramatic…' He thought to himself, calming down somewhat as he just sat on the floor in his room.

He knew what he wanted to do, for certain. However, he knew there would be problems along the way. A lot of problems. His heart rate steadily increased out of nervousness just thinking about it.

There was one thing he knew would be a bigger problem for him than the rest.

His mother.

He didn't know what to do about his mother. She had, more or less, been there for him his entire life. Yeah, she didn't quite say he could be a hero, but what was one negative to all of the positives she's done for him. She was always so kind, understanding, supportive in every way possible. He knew she worried a lot, and that's normal for mothers.

The issue was: should he tell her? Should he confide in her this time? Would she support him? Would she hate him? Would she get mad and disown him as her son? He wasn't sure, not at all.

However the more he thought about it, the more he thought she had the right to know. To know about everything. She deserved to know what had been happening to him his entire life. He lied to her on a daily basis, saying everything was alright when everything wasn't. He knew she worried and she probably knew he was lying, but she respected his privacy and trusted him to come to her about it. That made him feel awful. He felt like a terrible son for probably making her think he didn't want to talk to her.

He then decided he would tell her. He would tell her about everything. He would even tell her his plan, and if she supported it or not, he would still go for it. He just hoped she would still love him.

He stood up from his spot on the floor, his heartbeat increasing and sweat starting to pour from his pores. He went over to his bedroom door, shakily grabbing the doorknob and twisting it open. He stepped into the hallway and made his way to the kitchen, where his mother was currently getting ready to make dinner.

'Here we go…' He thought, taking in a deep breath and preparing himself. "H-Hey, mom? Can we talk for a little bit?"

Inko Midoriya looked at him, immediately noticing how her son was sweating bullets and shaking like he had just been on some kind of drug. She knew better though about that, but still began to worry. "Izuku, honey, what's the matter? Are you alright?" She stopped what she was doing and went over to him, putting her hands on his arms.

He thought for a moment, hanging his head and staring at his feet. He then spoke to her truthfully, "No… I'm not." His mother gasped in worry and quickly gave him a hug. She began to worriedly ask him tons of questions about what was wrong, but he stopped her and separated from the hug, gesturing toward the living room. "Can we sit and talk… please?"

Despite Inko's worry, she was able to calm down enough and sit down across from her son so he could talk to her. She was extremely worried, scared, and saddened, but in a way she was happy. She was happy her son finally realized he could talk to her about anything.

That's when it began. A long confession as to what had been happening to him since he was four years old. They had lost track of time, but it felt like hours had gone by. Inko had teared up more than once and hugged her son with all of her might even more than she had cried. To say she was in shock would be an understatement.

She had always thought everything was alright in school. He hadn't talked about it much, but she had been told from old friends years back that teenagers never really shared too much about school with their parents. She thought it was something normal for a teenager. But this… it wasn't normal, it was sick. Her own son was being ostracized and pretty much tortured by his peers and the staff of the school.

His main bully shocked her more than anything else. His old best friend, Katsuki Bakugo. She didn't believe it at first, whether from shock or denial she didn't know, but it took him having to show her burn marks from his Quirk to prove it. Apparently he would rally other students to do similar acts, but he was the main tormenter. He had even told her what he said to her this very day, and that got under her skin. Inko has known Katsuki's mother, Mitsuki Bakugo, for years. That's how Izuku and Katsuki became friends when they were so young in the first place. She would've called Mitsuki immediately if Izuku hadn't stopped her. She didn't know why he stopped her either, but she listened to him, and settled down as he continued.

She was furious. She wanted to take down the entire Aldera school system right then and there, but she knew she couldn't. There wouldn't be any chance for them, they had too many people to take their side. Most likely, they'd get in trouble for 'falsely accusing' them.

He had even told her about his meeting with All Might (excluding his weakness and frail state). He told her that even the person that said everyone could be a hero, had declined him. Through her own sadness and anger she saw a glint of anger in him too. For the time being, she didn't question it.

When Izuku had finished confessing everything, Inko had to take a moment to herself. She had excused herself from the room and cried to herself in another. She couldn't help it, really. She felt horrible for not noticing sooner. She felt like she failed.

She went back into the living room a little bit after she stopped actually crying. She noticed that he quickly wiped his own tears when she reentered. She couldn't even imagine what he was feeling like, or felt like for all of those years.

Once she sat down in her previous spot, he told her had more to say. At first she feared it was more bullying, but he assured her it was something else. She took notice of the fact he started to sweat more and his previous shaking and once again started again. She took a deep breath to calm her own nerves, deciding to step up as his mother and assure him it was okay. "Izuku, I love you, no matter what you tell me, that will never change. You can always talk to me, about anything, I'll always be here for you."

With the message sent, she only needed to wait for him to receive it. He did, and took his own deep breaths to calm himself. With the confirmation from his mother, he calmed down and found a complete resolve to tell her this.

"Mom, I have a new goal-" he started, and explained to her what he wanted to do. He told her how he wanted to reshape the current hero society by any means necessary. He told her the role he'd play to do it. He gave her his reasoning.

To say she was shocked would be an understatement. Any normal parent would have probably flipped or something but, somehow, she just remained perfectly still and lost in her own thoughts. From what he had told her, he would be playing the role of some sort of villain character. He would need to get his hands dirty, in more ways than one. But did she really disagree with him?

"U-Um, Mom? Are you alright?" He asked, drawing her out of her own mind. She looked at him with a very judging and analytical look. He was completely serious, she could see it in his eyes and could hear it the tone he spoke in before.

"I have some questions, I want you to answer them honestly for me, okay?" He nodded in response, beginning to twiddle his fingers nervously. It would have been worse if she had not said what she did earlier. "How would you do it, specifically?"

He thought for a moment, before answering. "I'm going to fix the hero system, one step at a time, by using my own support item and technology."

"Yes, I get that, but if that's the case why don't you just become a hero using those items?" Inko had a feeling she already knew the answer, but she just wanted to confirm it.

He paused, thinking again before he spoke. Eventually, he answered, "I- I know you may not like it, but I'm going to be a lot different from now on. I'm sorry, mom ."

There was more to it then that, but she let it go for now. That basically confirmed it anyway. He would most likely fall into the criminal underworld for either money or help. She didn't like it, not one bit. But, when she looked at him, she saw his determination and unwavering resolve. It scared her to death, really.

She knew. She knew that no matter if she completely disagreed with him, he'd still find a way to do it anyway. She knew that once her boy had his mind set on something, it would be very hard to change it.

"Izuku…" she spoke in a quiet tone, fearfully. She fought the urge to cry, because no matter how many times she tried, she couldn't end up disagreeing with his reasoning. He was wronged, in so many ways, by so many different people. He was told to kill himself, by his former best friend and possibly many more times. Then, after that, the very same day, the number one hero crushed his dreams and then LEFT HIM ON THE ROOF OF A BUILDING. She thanked the gods he hadn't jumped.

Tears began to leak from her eyes, Izuku's eyes following the example. They ended up embracing one another in a hug to comfort one another. Despite her dislike of it, she would be there for him, no matter what. She made sure to tell him that, from the bottom of her heart.

He cried a lot after that.

After the crying session, they separated. Izuku knew his mother was on his side, but despite that he couldn't help but feel bad. He felt like he was wrong for getting her involved. He mentioned it to her, but she only told him that she didn't care, as long as she could support him.

They recovered soon after that. It was settled now, after a long heartfelt discussion. Both of them felt wright leave their shoulders after that, but at the same time it felt heavier. They had a lot of work ahead of them, so they started to get to work.

First thing was first, they set out a plan. Izuku got dropped out of school and they set up an online learning regime to get him through middle school and high school quicker. Izuku predicted he would only need four or five months to graduate, which Inko didn't even bother denying, he wouldn't listen if she did. What was likely to happen, he'd shut himself in his room for those months to solely focus on the work he needed to do, only coming out to eat and use the bathroom. She would step in if his health became compromised, and she made sure he understood that he needed to take care of himself.

The discussion about what would happen after that became a bit tricky. Izuku gave her a rough idea of what he wanted to build, but it was only an idea and needed a lot of refining. It would be expensive, very, very expensive. Luckily, online school was actually cheaper than Aldera, for reasons they were starting to suspect. That meant they would be able to save more money for that project of his, but he would only start working on it fully once he completely finished school. They both knew they needed another way to make money, though.

Izuku also mentioned the fact he would need to learn other things in order to properly succeed in what he wanted to do. She knew this already, but it was good that it was mentioned. That would be something he'd officially start once he finished school.

With nothing else to discuss, they both gave one another a long hug before resuming their own things. Inko started to resume eating dinner, which by now was hours late, and Izuku went back to his room to get himself started on his school work.

Months went by rather fast, for them at least. It took a little longer then he had thought, graduating five months and a week after starting online learning. It was mostly due to his health starting to waver and Inko made him take a break and fix his schedule. It was like routine to him at that point, and when it suddenly ended he felt a little lost. He was unsure of what to do next.

It was funny to him too, actually. It was funny how well he was able to focus and learn. He thought that, since he didn't need to worry about a quirk, his studies would always be at 100%. People with quirks always had that on the conscious- something more of a distraction they always have to improve or use in some way. But for him, it wasn't the case for him. His mother even called him a prodigy.

But eventually, after only a few days, he started learning again. He didn't just throw in the towel right away. He decided to find appropriate subjects pertaining to what he needed to know and asked his mother to sign him up.

The study of holography was one of the major subjects he decided to pick up. With how technology was in their world today, Holographic imaging is able to be implemented with many possibilities for use, not to mention that nobody nowadays really used it for anything due to quirks. Not to mention that it was incredibly useful for what he had in mind. Special effects and basic tricks wouldn't hurt either to go with this, he supposed.

To go with that, he decided to learn robotics and computer science, as well as advanced engineering. They were incredibly useful subjects to learn, and could come in handy in a variety of different situations. Not to mention the fact he couldn't build anything if he didn't know how to.

On the side, he decided it would be incredibly useful to get rid of his nervousness and stuttering. It wouldn't benefit him at all in the future. So he decided to take up an acting class of sorts. Well, not so much a class but more as a tips and tricks video and some much needed practice. He practiced with his mother most of the time, but at other times he decided to go out to random strangers and play a random, realistic role. One time he decided he would impersonate a hero using only their voice, and funnily enough nobody could tell the difference. The fun was ruined when the actual hero he was impersonating showed up, in which he had to get the heck out of there.

All of those things combined took months to complete, making it so over a year went by since he spoke to his mother. If nothing had changed, he would have been in his last year of middle school and only have ten months until the UA entrance exam began.

It was funny, he never once thought about his old friend Bakugo, which he now referred to him as instead of Kacchan. He couldn't care less about him anymore, and if he got into UA, it was only more of a reason to fix the system.

Though he still knew better than to not pay attention to upcoming heroes, or new ones, not to mention how older heroes may have improved. So, he continued to analyze heroes on his spare time, writing notes in his notebook, just like old times.

Though now that he finished learning what he wanted to learn he needed to practice. The problem was there was a complete lack of materials around for him to use. Inko had offered to get some for him using the money that had been saved up, but he politely declined. He needed to do research on how to get materials.

A day or so into research he found something almost a bit too perfect. A beach, full of trash that washed up onto shore. It was full of all different things for him to just take. The best part is that it wasn't even that far from his apartment.

He made a few trips with his mom using their car, gathering materials he thought he could salvage and shape into something better. Of course, they needed tools for the job and luckily they still had some money saved up, so they used the money to get him the tools required to do his work. Inko had also given Izuku a warehouse that belonged to her husband, and Izuku's father, Midoriya Hisashi, and let him change it into Izuku's own personal workshop. Since Hisashi wasn't around much at the moment anyway, the warehouse was free for him to use as he wished.

It took a while with a lot of trial and error, not to mention the waste of scrap materials, but he was finally able to create something. It was only a simple laser pointer, a pretty big one at that, practically useless. But the fact that he was able to do it was a win for him. The next step was condensing the size, making it smaller so it could be fit into something.

Two days later, full of nonstop work, he was able to condense the laser pointer into a half inch by half inch small cube. One side of the cube was where the laser would shoot out through, shown by a small hole. A small button on the back would turn it on. He accidentally put his hand in front of it and felt a little heat coming from the beam. He noted for later that it could possibly be used for weaponization or breaching.

Eventually, after taking it slow and steady for many weeks, he had gotten bolder in his creations. He used what he could find at the beach to build a pretty crappy holoprojector. The imaging was crap and the size of both the image as well as the device was laughable, but he had built it only using beach scraps. He saw that as an absolute win. He could only imagine what he could do with better materials at his disposal.

A small experiment came to his mind a few days after making the holoprojector. What if he could use vibration and sound to create a sonic cannon of sorts? He got some devices together, tipped their sound to a lower frequency, along with other things. It failed, the first time, and exploded into a wave of deafening sound that ended up being broadcasted on the news. Apparently, the sound waves were so strong that it ended up going on for a quarter mile or so. He needed to tone that down.

A week after that, between some testing for the other experiment, one of Izuku's main projects had begun. He was able to make his own little drones, using four makeshift propeller blades and a base shaped down from other scrapped metals. He used actual drones as referencing by going to different stores and studying them, then sketching and taking notes. However he couldn't actually buy any because they were all just too much money, even the smaller ones.

So he carefully built his own, cheaper drones. Eventually he got it working and was able to set up a remote control to his computer for the time being. It was able to fly stably and still had room to fit what he wanted to fit. The downside was that this drone had no projection, with the propeller blades being exposed and it's durability being little to none. The idea was that he would use the drones to fit a holoprojector on the bottom and be able to project an image from the drone. He soon was able to replicate the drone to make multiple and ended up with about four total drones by the end of the week, all fully functioning and stable.

He then came to a realization that with all the technology he would be using in the future, he should probably have some kind of digital defense. He asked his mother to sign him up for a programming course, which she did and he completed within the next two weeks. Then, Izuku, the mad lad that he is, decided to learn how to hack and program complicated firewalls.

His first hacking test was the neighbors television. He was able to crank the volume up loud enough for him to hear. He slowly advanced his skills to where he was able to hack the police and cover his tracks. He was able to make copies of some of their files, specifically villains with interesting quirks he could write down. After he did that, he thought he was good enough in that department. He was going to go as far as hacking the government or something, but hacking into UA when the next year started did sound like something he should consider.

It took a whole month after he figured out how to hack to get the issue sorted out with the sonic cannon. Izuku eventually was able to make the vibrations and sound flow in a cone once fired out, and it wasn't too loud either. The wave ended abruptly after about thirty or so feet, but will end earlier if a heavy enough blocker is in the way. Izuku discovered, while testing at the beach, it was strong enough to push smaller objects around, as well as himself. He thought that if he could make another version of this, but stronger with an added feedback loop, he could potentially make some kind of hover device.

A day or so after finishing with that experiment, his mother asked him to grab some groceries for her since she was sort of stuck with something with her job and couldn't go. Naturally he agreed to go, since he didn't want his mother doing everything anyway and he wanted to help her out as much as he could.

He had gotten the groceries with little to no issue. The only real problem was a minor annoyance when the stupid device absolutely refused to read the card he was swiping which made him call for assistance and stay there for almost an hour. Thankfully he didn't have any cold things on him to worry about.

On his way home, there was a lot of chatter about some kind of incident a few blocks away. Apparently someone had set a building ablaze and the heroes just stood around and watched. Thankfully, a civilian was able to rush in and save everyone. Izuku grit his teeth in annoyance. A civilian shouldn't have to step into situations heroes should be in. He hoped that civilian was alright; the same went for everyone in the building.

After a few more turns on the road he got distracted by something and stopped paying attention to where he was walking, causing him to bump into someone. The other person fell to the ground with an "oof" while Izuku regained his focus but dropped his groceries to the ground.

He looked ahead of him to find that he had run into a girl. She had shoulder-length, bob shaped hair, sideswept to her right with some shorter strands about the eyes. Fair skin, bit of an athletic build with some lacking muscle. From what he could see, she had cerulean eyes and had a stuck neutral expression on her face. Her hair and face seemed to be dirty and her clothes didn't fare any better. She seemed a bit discombobulated as she still lay on the ground.

Without thinking he forgot about his groceries and reached a hand out to her. Now he was still a bit iffy on normal human interaction, but his mom had been helping him out with that so he hoped his nervousness didn't show itself too much. "S-Sorry about that, I-I wasn't watching where I was going." Dammit.

She looked up at him, a hand on her head. She stared at him for a moment, a bit like she was mesmerized by him, before actually grabbing his hand and he helped her up. After she balanced and adjusted herself, she shook her head. "No. Don't apologize. I wasn't paying attention either." She walked past him and over to his bags, picking them up and offering it to him. "You dropped these."

He nodded, also a bit mesmerized by the girl in front of him, while taking the bags. Izuku decided to speak, "Are you alright? You seem a bit…" he didn't really want to seem rude by calling her 'dirty' or 'filthy'.

She nodded. "I am fine. I only got caught up in something earlier." She said it so casually, as if it were no big deal. Izuku was concerned for this girl's well-being now, but he only nodded. He could only take her word for it since he didn't actually know her and it wasn't his place or business to pry her for information. While he had learned how to read people's expressions from his acting classes, this girl's expression was so incredibly neutral that it was impossible to read. Her voice was even almost completely void of emotion too!

It seemed she caught a glint of the concern he displayed, but didn't say anything on it. Instead, she decided to give him a very small smile and give a short bow toward him as a 'thanks'.

No more words were said and the two parted ways. He was sure he would remember her though. He had a feeling he would see her again soon, but didn't exactly know why.

By then, after the unexpected meeting, at least four months have passed since he started experimenting with making gear. It had gone well for the most part, despite some bumps in some places.

After all the work he had done up until then, he decided he needed a bit of a break. For months he had been working nonstop on things, and he felt like it was soon going to start affecting his health. His mother would agree. And so, a two week break began. Though, during the break, he couldn't help but think about what he could do in the future. A main concern for him was materials, since he doubted mere beach scraps would be the best things to use long-term.

A week and a half into his break, Izuku was walking to the beach to pick up some materials in preparation of a project he was going to be working on. He wasn't looking for too much either, just something he could use as a sort of conduct for a new holoprojector he was thinking up.

Though, just when he was about to go down the stairs, he heard a voice from down below. "Why did you suggest we meet here?"

"HAHAHA!" Another voice boomed in laughter. Izuku unconsciously tightened his fist in rage just hearing it, but was able to realize it and calm down shortly after. He quickly found a suitable place to take cover and eavesdrop on the conversation below. "Your body is not yet ready to handle One for All. If I gave it to you now, your limbs would explode. You do possess a lot of muscle already, so this will mostly be an additional workout for you. I also apologize. We should have begun a lot sooner than this, but I had some trouble coming up with a suitable fitness plan for you and your Quirk."

'Huh?' He had more than one question about that entire statement. One, what the hell was One for All? Two, apparently this 'One for All' can be given away. Izuku at first thought it may be some kind of weapon or substance somebody could eat or inject, but he turned that down quickly because he doubted All Might would be in possession of anything like that. Three, what the hell this person's limbs could explode?!

"Mm." Came the short and simple reply.

'That's all you have to say to that?!' Izuku mentally exploded. He would personally have some concerns about this but that was just him, he guessed.

A feminine voice spoke: "We're here because I need to build a little more muscle to handle it."

All Might nodded, but Izuku couldn't see it. "Correct. But that's not the only reason." Izuku then decided to peak over from his hiding place to watch what was going on now. All Might had moved over to a fridge and began crushing it with a single hand, "After some internet research yesterday, I found out that this beach has been like this for many years. Apparently, the current drifts objects here a lot, and because of that, people take advantage to hide their illegal dumping. Heroes these days do a lot of showy stuff, but sometimes hero work is about helping the community."

Izuku glared at All Might for that comment. It was a bit hypocritical, since he was literally the highest hero in the spotlight. Granted he wasn't as bad as, say, Uwabami, but still.

"Mm." Was the girl's reply, again. Izuku looked at her, noting her appearance. It was the same girl he had met on the street! He pulled out his notebook, which he conveniently had on him, and began to sketch her as best he could from what he could see now as well as memory. He left a spot next to the sketch open for any notes, since he knew this would be important later.

"You're also allowed to use your Quirk," All Might told her, with Izuku perking up at the mention of her quirk. "This is meant to be a sort of training exercise, so don't hold back. Test your Quirk, bring it to its limits and improve it. However, you still need to follow this plan I made for you and prioritize gaining muscle. I know this is a lot harder due to the entrance exams starting in only a few months, but you can do it! Go beyond, plus ultra!

It didn't seem like he would get any more information from this encounter, so he decided to back off. He was able to sneak away as they started talking about something else. He had a sketch and some information for later. Now he really wished he had gotten the girl's name when they had first met.

Although he made sure to dedicate a page to this 'One for All', when he got home.

Now, he knew he wasn't able to go to the beach for parts anymore without risking being seen. Well, perhaps he could still go just when nobody was there- but he doubted that since they are trying to clear it before exams started. In all honesty he could probably get away with being seen, but overall it was just too risky with what he had planned in the future.

At one point he started thinking about what kind of suit or costume he'd wear. Following that he decided to start designing multiple suits that seemed interesting or matched seemed appealing to him. Eventually, he settled on a pretty peculiar design but the implications for it were good so he marked it (it'll be what the MCU Mysterio suit looks like). He told his mom about the suit and they began to conjure up ideas on what they would be able to do for it, since they obviously weren't able to build such an advanced suit just yet.

What they had was a good idea, actually suggested by Inko, but it wasn't ready just yet. Using a good portion of the saved money they still had (it wasn't a lot anymore because of the amount of classes Izuku took) they were able to get a motion capture suit.

The idea was that, once he was able to successfully upgrade his holoprojectors enough, they would be able to just project a suit onto his body. He realized he probably shouldn't use his official suit for villain work either, so he designed another one specifically for it. But first, he needed to work on his projectors for it but he couldn't get the materials to work on them.

He had to rule the beach out completely too, since every time he went there that girl was there working. All Might would be there sometimes too. After a few tries he just decided it wasn't worth it. The girl was, shockingly, making a lot of progress on that beach. He thought that perhaps her quirk was the main reason she was able to progress so quickly.

So, he had to do something to get materials, but his mind always wandered back to the money problem they had (mainly due to the sheer amount of classes Izuku took online). The best thing he could do was get a job, but most jobs willing to hire a kid his age paid pretty poorly and he didn't feel like waiting months upon months just to finish a single projector.

One day he was catching up on hero notes by looking at online footage. It started out normal, but out of nowhere his mind just seemed to stop and realize that the villains actually lose a majority of the conflicts they find themselves in.

He came up with an idea. Whether it was a particularly good idea or not remained to be seen, but it was extremely risky. He thought that, since villains couldn't win a fight with a hero to save their ass, he could perhaps sell information to villains for them to use in confrontation.

Izuku started to think of ways he would actually pull this off. He wouldn't risk physically meeting with any villains, since if things went south he'd be in danger and he's basically putting his face out there for everyone to see. The next best thing would be to do it online somehow.

He did some intense research for about a week after setting up a secure digital defense on his computer. On a very, very specific part of the dark/deep web, villains used a variety of sites for different purposes. Izuku found a plethora of information sites, recruitment sites, black markets, etc.. It really was a jackpot of villainy, how had the heroes or police not found this yet?

He set up his own digital bank account and decided to make his own website. It took him a while to actually think of a name for himself and his site, but he eventually settled on 'Mr. Mystery's Hero Weakness Store. Limited Time Only!'. The site was pretty plain, with a basic description on what it's about and a secure channel for villains to get in contact with him.

He decided on prices for particular heroes too. For heroes he particularly hated, like Uwabami and Mt. Lady, he would do it for a lesser price at perhaps 200,000 yen (because he hated them and would admit to wanting them gone). For heroes like Thirteen, someone he considered to be a good hero, he charged more at perhaps 540,000 yen. For heroes like Eraserhead that were harder to gather information on, they were less expensive but still a lot, sitting at around 350,000 yen. He made an exception for Endeavor, since he knew that since he was a majorly hated hero and sitting at rank two, he decided to make the price for weaknesses on him 900,000 yen. The most expensive hero was All Might, sitting at 2,200,000 yen. The reason for All Might's price was because of his singular weakness, and the fact that he was literally keeping most of the underworld in line by being the Symbol of Peace. Even Izuku knew that he was important, despite his hatred for the man.

He posted the site after he had everything set up. Then, literally, only ten minutes after he posted it, he got a ping. Like, what the actual hell?

Izuku opened up the channel, finding the private message from some villain who knows where.

Unknown: What do you have on All Might?

He had to slap his face once after that. This guy couldn't be serious, could he? Did he see the price?

You: You do know how much it costs, right?

Unknown: Yeah I'll pay you double or whatever just tell me what you've got.

'...the f-' He censored himself in his own mind. This maniac was willing to pay him double just for a weakness on All Might? Well… it was too good to pass up.

You: His left side. If you have something strong enough to actually hit him, hit the left side of his stomach.

Unknown: Really? Thanks, most of these noobs don't have any weaknesses. Do you have anything else?

He wanted more? What was with this dude? He wasn't going to give this guy anymore info then that though.

You: I'm afraid not. That's all I was able to get after all the research I did.

Unknown: Okay, this will do.

Unknown: I sent you your pay.

Unknown: You seem cool, we could use someone like you, you wanna join our League?

He's making a League? Did he make a mistake by telling these guys this?

You: I'm sorry but no I have another agenda I need to follow, thanks for the offer though.

Unknown: Damn, well I'll tell someone I know to get people over here for information.

Unknown: Bye.

The guy left and when Izuku checked his account the guy, true to his word, paid him double. That was literally 4,400,000 yen! Then he said he would spread the word to others. He didn't know whether to consider this a success or not. Did he just make a huge mistake?

It didn't take too long for him to start getting more messages requesting info. There was this one really eager, and Izuku really meant eager, guy that wanted info on Endeavor. Then even after Izuku was paid and the information was given the guy went into further detail on how much Endeavor needed to suffer and the like.

So, this 'businesses' was a major success all around, he supposed. Throughout the week his bank account exploded with money. Izuku supposed the guy had been true to his word about telling people about the site. He ended up with more than enough to get what he needed now, and would most likely continue to get more and more everyday to fund his projects.

It took months of very, very precise work, but he was able to do it. He was finally able to make a top-notch projector. The image was astounding and life-like, you couldn't even tell it was a holographic projection unless you specifically put your hand through it. Though, this came at a price. Usually, when making it, the projector would overheat and promptly lead to an explosion in the workshop. The first time it happened was devastating and completely ruined a lot of things. The second time he knew better and he, with more trial and error, was able to complete it.

This would go extremely well with the motion capture suit, he concluded. If he put that on and installed the projectors on his drones, then had said drones follow him whilst projecting the image of his suit, it would appear as if he were wearing an actual suit. It was brilliant, if he didn't say so himself.

He still wanted an actual suit though.

It was more for a cool factor to have an actual suit though. He'd have to figure out how it could be made later, he instead now was focusing on upgrading current gadgets into something much better.

Weeks later the UA entrance exams finally began, and he completely forgot! He was too preoccupied with upgrading his drones to have a better material, actually give it a shell, and leave room for other things (think of the drones from Far From Home).

He decided he'd hack into UA's systems so he could see all the possible new heroes. UA's firewalls were tough to break, but he was able to get through without exposing himself. Yay.

Bakugo was there, of course. Though, something was off about Bakugo. He seemed more… docile? Whatever, he didn't really care.

He instead focused on some of the more exciting participants. It seemed as though Ingenium's little brother, Tenya Iida, was participating, though from what he's seen so far of him the kid could be quite still and annoying. The dude had the gall to tell Present Mic that UA was unprofessional, in the middle of a presentation, about something he hadn't even gotten to yet!

The really interesting participant was the girl he had seen with All Might. Kodai Yui, was what UA's records had her name as. Quirk: Size. Size allows the user to alter the size of objects the user has previously interacted with, activated by pressing her fingertips together. It doesn't work on living things. A simple quirk, and a quite powerful one too. Perhaps with the right training, and if the user increased the speed at which objects grew it could be even better. He jotted it down in his notebook, along with other notes, as he watched from camera systems.

Kodai's profile also possessed a description of her looks and her personality. He considered that a bit creepy, but it could be useful. Apparently she was kind hearted, strong willed, self-sacrificial, and more. She was a bit quiet though, not really on the expressive side.

The girl would go around her designated arena shrinking robots and crushing them in her hand to gain villain points. As he watched he noticed her figure had changed a bit, now possessing a bit more muscle than she had before. There were instances as he watched where she shrunk objects and grew them to large sizes to destroy them as well. There were also a few times she sacrificed points to help people who were cornered, even helping them recover. Izuku respected her from what he saw, and thought she would be a great hero someday.

It wasn't too long before the big guy showed up. The Zero Pointer, as they called it. People ran from it like herds or sheep. But, the strangest thing happened. Another contestant was trapped, and there was nothing they could do to move out of the way. Izuku has initially thought that the robot would stop before it hit her, but no, Kodai literally shot up into the air and punched a hole in the robot's face at the cost of some of her limbs.

Needless to say Izuku spit out the water he was drinking all over the floor.

He was left stunned and wide eyed. 'Two quirks? No, that should be impossible, a case like that is so incredibly rare, with the only known case being Todoroki Shoto. Could Size also apply to her physical strength? No, that's impossible too.'

After minutes upon minutes of careful consideration, he came to a conclusion. 'One for All…' he thought. 'Was that one for all?!'

He quickly opened his notebook to the One for All page, starting to jot down whatever he knew. 'So One for All is a quirk! I should have known from the start! It seems like a strength enhancer from what it could do… but how was it that she was able to get it? All Might did say he would give it to her. Does One for All have some sort of property that allows it to be passed down? That would imply that there are two quirks in One for All itself…'

He wasn't completely sure, but he jotted it down anyway. It was good to have notes on these things, and it already seemed like this could be a major problem later one. He already predicted the alibis they would contour up. Either, one, they'd play it off as part of her quirk, or two, they'd play it off like she was born with two quirks. It was hard to say which option was more likely, since they could just say the second quirk appeared later due to the lack of muscle to use it, or something.

He supposed that was enough of that for the day and went back to working on his drones.

He thought it would be best to replace the propellers with some kind of hover device. He had upgraded his Sonic Cannon to be more durable, pack more of a punch, and actually have a larger range of settings for the device itself. He would implement the workings of that into a hover device.

It took a few days but he was able to make a separate version of the Sonic Cannon that functioned as a hover device. Instead of being a burst of sound and vibration that sent out a strong blast, it would be a constant wave of it at a lower frequency and power. It was pretty silent too. He first tested it on some materials that would balance pretty well and it was an overall success, with a few kinks every now and then. He installed it into the drone, after making some more, so it was ready.

The projector had fit rather well into the drone. It actually didn't take up too much room, and the drone itself was actually pretty roomy. He could make more laser pointers and put one in every drone! That would help with precise targeting. Also, with all of the extra room, he thought why now add the Sonic Cannon in there too? It was right in the middle of the drone, with the projector just under that, and the laser pointer in between. The hover device was installed into the bottom.

Of course additionally he needed to set up a computer system that programmed the drone to follow commands. It was a pretty small system he was able to make too, so the drone was still really roomy on the inside. Fairly light too. He was sure to make it waterproof, sandproof, fireproof… most of the proofs. They were still pretty easy to destroy if someone got a hard hit in, though.

He went back to the beach to test it out, and as he expected the entire beach was literally trash free. The girl really pushed herself in such little time, didn't she? He wasn't sure if there was any way in the world he'd be able to do something like that.

It was time for the test! He had gotten a small tablet that he could wrist mount and have more of a direct control of the drones. So, he connected the drone to the tablet and started its first test run. He made sure to wear the Mo-Cap suit for this as well. He hit a few things on the tablet and the drone began to fly up.

Izuku started to get excited. He did a few different tests: left, right, up, down, diagonal, speed, etc.. The wind picked up for a few seconds, throwing the drone off balance a bit, but it was still alright so he carried on.

The projector started to emit a blue light, enveloping his Mo-Cap suit and replacing it with an image of his suit. It wasn't perfect, however, since the lack of coverage left a lot of spots on him exposed and unchanged. He would need more drones to fix that.

He switched off the projector and thought I'd be a good idea to test the Sonic Cannon- while it was pointed right at him. He fired it, and not only did it fling him back a good bit but the drone was pushed so far back it tumbled in the sand.

Izuku cleaned himself off and went after the downed drone. Luckily he made it so sand or anything couldn't compromise it, but the fact that it was flung so far back just from firing the Sonic Cannon wasn't good at all. He needed some sort of automatic stabilizer to help with that.

A better way to control the drones wasn't a bad thought either. Izuku considered voice commands would be a good option, or even a way to control them remotely from his brain.

First though he needed stabilizers.

By the time Izuku finally figured out how to optimize an automatic stabilizer for his drone the first day of UA's new year had started. He didn't much mind though, since the first day was likely orientation related and whatnot. He'd tune in the next day and see if anything was going on, but now he wanted to test his new stabilizers.

He took the drone back to the beach and ran all the same tests he did last time, just in case installing the new stabilizers compromised any other systems in the computer or projector. When it finally came time to test the stabilizer, he couldn't help but worry a little. The first few tests involved a lot of sparks and explosions, most due to overheating. Though, when he did it this time, it actually wasn't too bad. The knockback was approximately five to seven feet back and the only thing concerning was the rapid shake of the drone during recoil. If he could fix that so the drone remained straighter, and the knockback was just about three to five feet, that would be nice.

When the second day of UA came he sort of checked in on the camera's every now and then. Nothing particularly interesting was happening, and from what he could gather from their system's class schedules, the hero training course didn't start until later in the day, well, for the class he actually cared about. 1-A has Kodai in it, probably because All Might was mostly going to be with that class, so he needed to keep an eye on her.

He also found that Bakugo was in that class too, not that he really cared about him, he was just marked as a very dangerous potential adversary due to his quirk so any developments should be marked. There was also Ingenium's brother, as well as Endeavor's youngest son. All potential threats, some more than others, but all still potential threats either way. Though from what he saw 1-B did have some interesting individuals, 1-A did seem to have… the more interesting people?

Anyway he just waited for the class to start while he brainstormed new possible ideas for his devices.

When it finally came, he began to pay full attention. Apparently, All Might taught the class and he had some kind of practical training planned. Izuku would admit, sometimes practical experience taught a bit better than the basic, which was something he went through while making his gadgets. It was taking place in one of UA's fake cities, Ground Beta.

Teams would be picked at random and it was basically a game of heroes vs villains except there's a nuclear bomb and the heroes have to touch it. The only match that interested him was the first one, that being Yui Kodai and Kendo Itsuka vs. Katsuki Bakugo and Tenya Iida.

Itsuka was an interesting one too. Quirk: Big Fist. It was pretty generic for the most part, only able to enlarge her fists, but it possessed some useful capabilities as well, such as more power in a hit or the ability to grab larger and heavier objects you normally couldn't lift. Not to mention it could also be used as a shield depending on whether the hand becomes fatter and more durable, almost like Fat Gum. She was also a pretty talented martial artist and the daughter of a retired hero, he didn't necessarily want to mess with her in close combat.

Bakugo and Iida were the villains this time. Despite what Izuku thought would happen, which would be that Bakugo would rush the opponent head on, it didn't happen. Bakugo actually actively listened to his teammate and devised a plan. Izuku was shocked, to say the least. He continued to watch the match.

Kodai and Itsuka went straight to the top floor, concluding it was the most likely place the bomb would be kept considering distance and practical location. Izuku considered the possibilities, and while that all was true the villains could have easily figured out that heroes would consider that and set up a trap on that floor while the bomb was safely stored in another location.

Eventually, the heroes won. Izuku noticed that Kodai had not used her second quirk during the match at all. He considered only one possibility: it was still too hard for her to control and using the amount of power the quirk possessed would render her out of commission for the fight, so she didn't use it.

They can't just play it off like she doesn't have it since there were multiple witnesses of students and teachers that saw her punch the robot's head off. He wondered how it would go.

He shortly reviewed the other matches, none really catching his eyes like the first one other than the young Todoroki's. It seemed he was keen on only using his ice. His personality seemed rather neutral like Kodai's but possessed a weird fire to it. He figured there was something up with that and noted to keep an eye on him.

At the end of everything, he couldn't help but feel like there was something really off about Bakugo. Something wasn't right, at all. He'd be sure to keep it in mind as he continued to work for the next few days.

One day, just suddenly, he felt like a complete and utter idiot. He hadn't considered until then, but how the hell would he be able to successfully pull off an illusion suit using the projectors if the damn drones were as visible as the sun in the day. He slammed his desk on the table for that idiotic oversight of his.

Considering that the drones would need to be cloaked somehow, he would likely need to either find a way to coat the existing shell of the drone to something that can bend electromagnetic radiation, or he would have to find a new material to replace the shell that did the same thing. Additionally there would need to be some kind of mechanism in place to activate and deactivate the cloaking device. Perhaps he could put something on the inside of the shell that created an invisible barrier around the shell of the drone? Yeah, that would work. If he could find something that could actually do it, then he could utilize a different version of his projectors to carry its effects to the outer layer of the drone's shell.

Overall this took a long time to do. For one, finding a material able to even do such a feat seemed to be impossible. That took him, what he felt like to him as, forever. Once he finally did find a material suitable enough and promptly ordered their entire stock, he had to rig the thing to the inside of the drone so it functioned. So, in summary, a lot of grueling and tedious things to do.

While Izuku was having a fantastic journey, UA was attacked. He granted himself a break to research the event that made breaking news. Apparently, some 'League of Villains' decided it was a genius idea to charge inside of the USJ during a rescue class and attack a class of students whilst declaring that they were there to kill All Might.

Wait, were these the guys he gave that info to? Well, to his relief, everything actually turned out alright. Nobody was killed or mortally injured and eventually All Might showed up really late to save the student's asses. The two leaders were able to retreat though. And, funnily enough, it was Kodai and Bakugo's class that was attacked. He'd be sure to tune into the Sports Festival.

The next two weeks leading up to the Sports Festival was Izuku's nightmare. The cloaking device would just never work as intended! Sometimes it overheated and would almost explode. Other times it would misfire and make other things cloaked which wasn't fun at all because he accidentally stubbed his toe on a big metal tool. Overall, he hated it.

One day, he just absolutely was so infuriated with the thing he needed to get out of there. He had gone to the beach, which was now completely vacant of trash, to cool down. It had become a semi-popular place for people to come now that all of the trash was gone. It was nice; the nice, relaxing breeze in the air and the sound of the waves crashing on the shore. It almost made him forget about everything. Almost.

As he stood on the beach, eyes closed, taking in the relaxing atmosphere, a voice called out to him.

"It is you again." He opened his eyes and turned toward the voice. Kodai had shown up and was making her way toward him. He was surprised and a bit shaken by her arrival. He hadn't expected her to show up now, if at all.

He nodded at her. She ended up next to him, and he noticed she was taller than him, as she began looking out into the horizon. "I didn't expect you to be here."

"Nor I you," was her response. She looked at him. "What brings you here?"

He took in a deep breath, then let it out. He could feel his nerves starting to claw their way into his voice, especially now that he knew who she was, but he kept it back. "I was frustrated and needed a place to relax." She nodded, showing that she acknowledged it. He curiously asked: "What about you?"

"Same." She looked down at her hand, almost as if she was unsure about something. "Can I ask a question?"

He raised an eyebrow. What could she possibly ask him? Couldn't she go to All Might or someone else about this? He decided to just help her out. She seemed like a nice person, willing to help others in exchange for hurting herself, among other things. "Sure, go ahead."

"It is actually a few things." She admitted, he only nodded to show that he didn't mind. "If you were given power, what would you do with it? How would you use it?"

Now, to just anyone that would seem like an odd question to ask. However, Izuku already knew the context of the question. Not that he'd tell her that, ever.

He thought about it for a little bit. She was asking that if he were the one that received One for All, what would he do with it. In his frame of mind now, his answer would be a bit mixed, but still the same as it would have been over a year ago.

He decided to answer: "Well, power is a pretty broad term, but if I were given one then I'd try to do the most good I could with it. With great power comes great responsibility, I think would be a good saying here. What I would do with it would depend on the quirk, or power as you called it. If you were given a power involving healing then I would likely want to go into the field so I could heal potentially injured people. Sometimes hospitals are too late, and despite the risks of going out there, I could save more people than just staying put in some hospital. For something like strength or endurance then I'd obviously put myself in front of a villain to protect people. That's what heroes are supposed to do, after all."

What he said wasn't wrong. If he, right now, was given a quirk, he would try to do the most good he could do. However his view of good has wavered a bit, as did his view of heroes. He'd help people, but not as a hero. Something in between, maybe? It was a hard topic to explain, but the general idea of it wasn't hard to pass on. His mother seemed to understand it, at the very least.

After his little ramble, he noticed she had developed a weird look on her face. Her mouth gaped a little in what he assumed was surprise and shock. He would admit, he also surprised himself at how much he had ended up saying.

She decided to speak again. "How old are you?"

He thought the sudden question was a bit creepy, but he answered anyway, "Fifteen."

"Why didn't you apply to become a hero then?" She asked, then insisted: "You would have made a great one."

Izuku couldn't help but feel a little tingly inside after that little compliment, however it subsided for now. He didn't want to get his hopes up that someone would actually tell him what he wanted to hear after so long. It was too late now, anyway.

He decided to test her. "I think it's my turn to ask a question, don't you think?" She was taken back by the sudden harshness in his words, but nodded anyway. He took another deep breath in and let it out, to prepare himself. "Do you think someone quirkless could become a hero?"

The question surprised her, no doubt. He looked out into the ocean, as did she. He waited patiently for her to respond to his question. Finally, after what felt like minutes, she responded.

"Yes, I do." He quickly turned his head to face her. She was still looking out into the ocean. "Anyone can be a hero, quirkless or not. It will be harder for them, sure, but if they try hard enough they could succeed. Eraserhead is a main example of this. His quirk does not help him fight, just even the playing field. He basically fights quirkless himself."

That was true! Eraserhead did fight quirkless! All he really did in combat was erase the opponent's quirk so he could use his superior fighting techniques against them.

For the first time in a while, Izuku was 100% happy. He looked back to the ocean, fully emerging himself back into the atmosphere. Someone had finally told him what he wanted to hear. Too bad it was too late. Still though, he smiled.

"May I ask why you wanted to know?" She asked him. His smile dropped after that. Another test he could give her, he supposed.

Another deep breath to calm his nerves. "I'm quirkless," he confessed. He knew she was processing the information still. Her face remained neutral as well. "All my life, I've been waiting for someone to say that," he admitted further. "When I was four, my quirk never came when everyone else's quirks did." He looked at his hands, remembering when Bakugo first developed his quirk. "I was shamed, bullied, beat up… and so much more." He looked back at her. "Up till now, nobody has ever said 'you can do it!', and that's what hurt the most."

He physically jumped back a little when he felt a weight come into him and a pair of arms wrap around his back. He almost fell. She was actually hugging him. He couldn't understand why. She wasn't there, she didn't see it, but yet she still hugged him.

On the inside, he felt something. It hurt, almost. A pang in his heart. Was this happiness? Sadness? Whatever it was, it was almost… welcoming? Nice?

Was this how it felt to have someone other than his mother that cared about him?

"I'm so sorry you had to go through things like that," her voice still carried that but of neutrality in it like it usually did, but this time it was a bit shaken, broken even. He knew she had figured out there was much more than what he had said.

Hesitantly, he raised his arms around her back and returned the embrace. It was a bit awkward for him. This was only their second encounter, yet they had already connected on this kind of level. He still appreciated the sentiment nonetheless, even if he didn't officially know her.

They eventually separated, and it wasn't until they did that he noticed something was rolling down his cheek. Tears? He thought that he had left that behind him. This girl… she was making him feel all sorts of things he didn't think he'd ever feel again.

She looked down at him, putting a hand to the tearful cheek and wiped it away with her thumb. He looked into her eyes, seeing the sadness in them. She felt guilty. He could tell. "I'm sorry," she spoke softly, he was barely able to hear her. "I wish that I was there. I wouldn't have let you suffer by yourself."

He shook his head, giving off an appreciative, small smile. "Don't feel bad. What's done is done, there's no changing that. And besides, if you were there too, you would have been hurt too. I would never wish that upon anyone."

He felt as if what he had said didn't help at all. She removed her hand from his cheek, and backed up from him a little. She suddenly became nervous as she twiddled her thumbs. "If I…" was what she started with, but she suddenly stopped. She used his primary method of calming one's self, taking a deep breath before trying again. "If I could give you a quirk, would you take it?"

The question shocked him. It made his shake. He hadn't been expecting such a question. Was this a real proposal? A trick?

If it was real, there could be multiple reasons as to why she asked him. It could be out of pity. It could be a test. It could be a few things, some more likely than others. However he knew she didn't mean to hurt his feelings or anything by requesting it. He could tell she meant no hard feelings.

"I would refuse," came his truthful response. Her expression didn't change much, but she looked like she was thinking about why he would refuse. He decided to explain. He gave her a heartfelt smile before speaking, "I'd appreciate the offer, but I wouldn't take it in a million years. Being a hero isn't just about power to me, it's about what's in here-" he pointed to his head, "and in here," he pointed to his heart. "Those are the main components in heroics, not some kind of power. Yeah, a quirk would be useful to punch a villain but a lot of the time anyone could make a device that can do something similar. There are multiple routes in heroics too, not just the fighting side."

She looked at him like he had three heads for a moment, before smiling at him. "An admirable way to view heroics. What is your name?"

He felt proud at that moment. "Izuku Midoriya," even though he already knew, he still needed to ask, "and you?" He held out his hand, hoping she would shake it.

"Yui Kodai," she responded, taking his hand and shaking it lightly. "If I may ask, do you live around here?"

He nodded, "Yeah, I do. Right here in Musutafu, only a little bit of a walk from home to this beach. What about you?"

Kodai seemed surprised for a moment, "I do as well. I live in an apartment complex, it's not too far from here. I just moved not too long ago though."

Now it was Izuku's turn to be surprised, "Me too, actually. Apartment complex two, down a few blocks."

"Apartment complex one." Was her quick response.

It was quiet for a moment, but Izuku was the one that actually broke the silence. He started to give off small laughs, which she started to subtly give off as well. "We were next to each other and we didn't even know."

"Mm!" Was her chirpy response. Though, after that, it became quiet again. They both stood there in the open, taking in the nice breeze and listening to the ocean waves hit the shore. It was starting to get late and the sun was starting to set, changing the sky's color to orange. Kodai noticed this and looked at him, poking him on the shoulder to grab his attention. "May I see your phone?"

Albeit confused, he complied. He took out his phone, which she snatched in an instant while simultaneously pulling out her own phone. Izuku knew where this was going, and couldn't help but feel like this wasn't exactly a good thing, considering what he had planned for the future. But, he couldn't bring himself to tell her to stop. Maybe he still wanted friends after all.

After messing with their phones for a bit, she handed him his back. His contacts were still open, with the addition of a new number. He looked at her questioningly, "You don't have to do this, I-"

She held her hand up to stop him, which he did. She started to speak, "Nobody was there when you needed it most. Let someone be there for you now. Let me be your friend, Midoriya." It was almost a plee, and he couldn't bring himself to decline.

He just… accepted it. He had a friend now. A friend that would, most likely, be on the other team one day. A friend he would have to betray in favor of his own goals.

The two exchanged their goodbyes, since she had to leave for a curfew or something. He stayed at the beach though, lost in thought. Maybe he was thinking about it a little too much. Maybe this friend would stay with him? Probably not, but he couldn't help but be hopeful.

He felt a little lost now. He had his own goals he wanted to accomplish more than anything. But at the same time, the desire to have friends enveloped his heart and pulled.

After that, he went home and made sure to relax and try to clear his mind. But, the thoughts still plagued his mind; even as he slept that night.

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A/N: That took forever…

The origin is almost done, I had to split it into two parts because of the fact it was already extremely long and I didn't want to just push everything into a single chapter. Best thing to do was to split it up into two. Part two will have the first Mysterio action sequence though, so I hope you guys enjoy that. The origin is all about Izuku learning and adapting to what he wants to do. It's all a learning process.

Again I'll apologize for any major grammatical errors in this story, since I don't have an editor some things may slip right by.

I hope you guys don't mind my interpretations of both Inko and Yui in this story so far. I have Inko the way she is because she knows that when Izuku gets on something he'll likely never quit, especially now. She didn't completely disagree with his reasoning either.

As for why Yui Kodai is the successor, you'll have to find out in a few chapters from now when I write her chapter. She has never been given One for All before in any fic though so I thought I'd be interested to try it out. You'll find out why it happened, how she met All Might, the part she'll play, ect., later.

As for Eri, like I said before I do have a general plan on what I want her to become later. She's aged up so it fits better for the story itself, and I'm sure you guys won't mind too much, I hope. She'll be in the next chapter as well.

All four tags have now been filled in. They will be the major characters of the story, but others will definitely get a time to shine.

After Origin Part 2 will be Bakugo's chapter or chapters depending on how long it is and then following that is Kodai's chapter, then we get into the main story. I will not be writing an Eri chapter just yet, mainly because we know most of her story during this time anyway and she'll mostly be with Izuku for a while. If I write one for it it won't be until later.


	3. Mysterio is Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku finishes his new persona.

A/N: Here is part two of Izuku Mysterio's origin story. Enjoy.

WARNING! THIS CHAPTER MAY CONTAIN SCENES THAT MAY BE UNCOMFORTABLE FOR SOME VIEWERS, VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED!

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Eventually he was able to get the cloaking device to work, and just two days before the Sports Festival started. He literally quadruple checked to make sure he had properly logged the proper way to install and activate it. The test went smoothly, with the drone disappearing as if it weren't there at all.

He decided to take a break for the days leading up to the Sports Festival. He just felt completely out of it after that cloaker failed him so many times. He would've skipped watching the Festival too but he knew it was necessary to log what he could for the future. Not to mention he didn't for another reason.

A day before the festival his phone dinged, showing he had just received a text message from someone. He was at home, just taking the day to relax. His mother was home too so he knew it couldn't have been her.

He unlocked his phone and checked his messages, only to see that it was his new friend that had sent him the message. He had forgotten they had exchanged phone numbers.

Kodai: Hello.

It was a simple message but Izuku still got flustered over it. A girl was actually texting him. They had exchanged numbers too! Why was this just happening now?! Probably because of the fact the day at the beach was filled with too much emotion to handle. Yeah, that'd do it.

You: Hi, how are you?

Kodai: I am pretty good, you?

You: Exhausted. My brain needs a break.

Kodai: Because of school work or something else?

It was risky to tell her about him graduating school early, but so was telling her his name and he did that anyway. Perhaps it was in spur of the moment he did that. He would have to ask her to keep him a secret from the people at UA, especially Bakugo.

You: I actually graduated high school through online classes a while ago. I'm just working on some other personal projects.

Kodai: That's pretty cool, I wish I was smart enough for that. What kind of projects do you work on?

You: Nothing interesting, just forget I said anything.

He had said a bit too much there. He didn't want to expose everything, but he got too caught up in talking with his only friend to realize. Speaking of her, she didn't respond right away. He could only think of why.

Kodai: Alright.

Kodai: You know I'm a hero student, right?

Izuku wondered why she was asking that. He already knew, yeah, but still wondered why she'd ask. He answered realistically though.

You: I sort of figured after everything. Why?

Kodai: And you know the Sports Festival is coming up, right?

You: Yeah? Why are you asking though?

Kodai: Did you get a ticket?

You: No, I wasn't able to. They sold out before I had a chance to get one.

It was true. After being so preoccupied with his cloaking device and then the events at the beach a few days ago he completely forgot to get a ticket. When he tried, they were completely sold out. He would have to watch it on television.

Kodai: Good.

Ouch, why 'good'?

Kodai: I asked one of my teachers to let me invite someone to the festival.

He was sure that teacher was All Might but he didn't let that bother him too much. He was probably just being nice to his successor or something.

You: It's not VIP or anything is it? You didn't tell your teacher about me either did you?

Kodai: No it's near the front of the stadium, I hope you don't mind. Also no, I didn't tell him about you. I won't reveal your personal information without permission. I just told him it was for a friend who liked heroics. He just gave it to me and told me to get out so he could take a nap.

He let out a sigh of relief. At least he didn't have to worry about any of that. Also, not All Might then? What kind of teacher did she ask?

You: Thanks for that. And I don't mind the seat, I really appreciate it, actually.

Kodai: :)

He didn't really know what much else to say to her after that, so the remainder of their conversation wasn't anything spectacular. She had asked him where he would like to meet up for his ticket, which he just told her at the beach again. He wasn't ready for her to come to his home yet. He didn't think he or his mother would be able to take it.

So they met at the beach an hour later since she had something to do first, with Izuku arriving a little earlier because he wasn't doing anything anyway.

She arrived only a few minutes after him with a bag of groceries, which reminded him of the first time they met, and gave him his ticket. She told him she had to go because she had frozen things in the bag that needed to be put away and asked him if he would walk back with her. He politely refused, instead taking the time to think alone at the beach. She reluctantly left him alone after that; he started to think that she thought he may be suicidal or something.

The next day, Izuku had gotten on the train for the Sports Festival. He unfortunately wasn't able to bring his mother, but she didn't mind. When he told her that a friend had invited him she was confused and happy at the same time. She knew his goals so that probably confused her, but her happiness for him outweighed that and she inevitably crushed him in a hug because of it. He loved his mother, but her hugs could be deadly.

After the train, he got held back by an accident nearby which was creating detours and wasn't able to make it before the speech. All he knew was that Bakugo gave it and left the audience with mixed reactions; good or bad he couldn't tell.

Not much happened in the first and second rounds that were highly notable. The youngest Todoroki was the main anomaly to Izuku. He, for some reason, just refused to use his fire. He took that as an insult, personally. Here someone was with two powers, refusing to use them because of some stupid reason while he was there quirkless.

He made sure to watch Kodai too, and he would admit that she was the really interesting one though. It seemed like she figured out a new use for her second quirk, able to generate a unique lighting around her body as she moved at slightly faster speeds. This quirk was just getting more and more interesting.

The race ended with Kodai winning, mainly due to her newfound speed and agility skills. Perhaps this was why she needed that break the other day? In second place was Bakugo, and he didn't seem too happy about losing, but he also didn't seem like he was about to explode. It was odd. In third was Todoroki, who possessed a similar expression to Kodai, except now it held a focused anger and intimidation.

The Cavalry Battle event wasn't too much, but it was entertaining. Kodai ended up teaming with a 1-B student, Uraraka Ochako. Her quirk, Zero Gravity, allowed her to make objects weightless. Pretty simple but highly useful in a variety of different scenarios. Her other teammates included some support student with pink hair and Fumikage Tokoyami, who possessed a very interesting quirk as well. What really surprised him was that Kodai was actually one of the horses, with the Fumikage kid on top. It was a smart move, since he could have Dark Shadow protect the headband more freely.

The other people didn't really concern his as much, but he did note their quirks and abilities down in the notebook he decided to bring for later. His doodling and writing speed had really picked up.

Needless to say Kodai's team won, but it wasn't without trouble. The other teams were very persistent in taking their headband.

It was the third event of the festival where things really heated up, literally.

Bakugo and Todoroki got one another and faced off first. Somehow, Bakugo was able to spark Todoroki's flames into coming out. He had said something to him that the audience couldn't hear. Endeavor was having a field day about it too, yelling and screaming over on his side of the stadium. Izuku scoffed.

Even with his flames, Bakugo was able to pull through and knock him out of the arena. Izuku didn't really expect that to happen either.

Other than that the other matches weren't that interesting. Kodai managed to knock out her opponent, Ashido Mina, rather fast.

Another kid, Shinso Hitoshi, was also interesting. He had some kind of Brainwashing quirk that was unsuitable for the Entrance Exams because it was voice activated, not to mention useless against robots.

He had to face Kodai in the second round. She didn't respond to any of his prompts to get her to speak, not that she was much of an enthusiastic talker anyway, but she did show facial reaction. Izuku could only wonder what Shinso had said. When Kodai knocked him out, she said something to him with one of the sternest looks he had ever seen. He said something back to her and they both walked out.

A few minutes after that, Kodai messaged him saying that she wanted him to meet someone after the festival. Oh, so she wanted him to meet Shinso? He told her he was willing to do it.

The rest of the third event leading up to the final round wasn't much interesting at all. There was one thing though that was exceptionally entertaining. Iida went up against the support student, Hatsume Mei, and their match got made into a commercial. It was funny.

Though he had realized while watching the match this, Hatsume Mei's inventions were nothing to laugh at. She was incredibly talented. He'd have to keep an eye on her in the future, perhaps.

The last round of the third event was Kodai Yui vs. Bakugo Katsuki. Kodai was easily able to dodge most explosions with her new speed and she used any rubble from the arena to enlarge and throw back at him. Bakugo would then respond by blasting the rubble to bits and continue to defend or attack. As they fought they seemed to have been talking about something. Unfortunately the audience can't hear it much. Whatever it was, it stirred a reaction from Bakugo and made it so he was able to hone himself enough to eventually knock her out.

And so, Bakugo ended up winning the third and final event, winning the whole festival, but he seemed pretty let down. All Might had given him a hug and a metal whilst mouthing something to him, but nobody could hear it. Bakugo did have a reaction to it though, so that was something.

As Bakugo stood on the podium while the audience shouted 'PLUS ULTRA' and All Might messed up, he just suddenly decided to survey the audience with his eyes. Izuku didn't notice Bakugo was looking in his direction until it was too late, and by the time he noticed Bakugo was looking at him with wide eyes.

Izuku had gotten up to leave, getting some attention to the people around him, as soon as Bakugo leapt off the podium when things wrapped up. He knew Bakugo was coming for him, so he needed to leave. He messaged Kodai and asked if she could bring the mystery person to the beach where they usually meet. It took a while to reply but she agreed.

At the beach, he waited for Kodai to arrive. It was only expected that he would get there early, after he left so suddenly at the festival. So, he just sat in the sand and waited.

She showed up with Shinso, as he expected, a half hour later. He didn't mind the wait, since it was his fault they had to meet there in the first place.

He got up from where he sat as the two approached. Shinso looked confused as to why he was even there. It seemed like Kodai was vague with him as well.

She stood off to the side and he and Shinso looked at each other. He gestured to Izuku first, "Shinso, this is Midoriya," she then gestured to Shinso, "Midoriya, this is Shinso."

He put a hand up in greeting, "Hey."

Izuku did the same. "Hi."

"Tell one another your quirks." They both looked at her like she had just said the most idiotic thing, and checked to make sure it was just a joke. News flash, she was completely serious.

Shinso decided to go first, despite his clear uncomfortability. Izuku gave him props for that. "My quirk is called Brainwashing. It allows me to give people commands after they respond to something I say to them." He let out a sigh as he looked at Izuku expectantly, "I know you're going to say that I have a villain's quirk; just get it over with."

Izuku raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't going to say that at all." Shinso seemed surprised for a moment. "Your quirk is actually really cool; incredibly useful too." He gave Shinso a reassuring smile, just to help the point carry across. It seemed he got it and returned it.

"Thanks, Midoriya. What about you, though, what's your quirk?"

Izuku froze for a second, using his go-to calming strategy of taking deep breaths before responding: "I'm quirkless."

It was Shinso's turn to freeze for a moment. He seemed guilty about something. He looked down and put a hand to the back of his head, scratching it nervously, "I'm sorry, Midoriya." He turned to Kodai next, "I'm sorry for saying what I did back at the festival."

Kodai shook her head disapprovingly, "No, don't apologize. This is why I had you two meet." When Izuku and Shinso looked at her questioningly she started to explain. "You two are very similar. You were ridiculed for something you couldn't control, and for something that is ultimately a part of what makes you, you. I brought you two together here to talk."

After that, talk they did. Although they were both reluctant to share their experiences at first, once they started it was actually hard to stop. They got along well and had more of a similar past than any of them realized. Shinso too had been bullied, hurt, criticized, and more, but what really surprised Izuku the most was that he was still trying to be a hero. They had to stop talking when the sun began to set though, since Shinso had to take a train home. However they exchanged numbers before he left.

It was only him and Kodai left. They were stuck in an awkward yet relaxing silence that they didn't want to break, but both of them had to go home. They walked with one another back. No words were said the entire time, but for him, it was still nice.

When he got home he started to think again. He started to think about everything. Someone that went through similar experiences as him was still actively trying to become a hero. Was he cowardly by making this choice? Did he make a mistake?

Despite those thoughts he still knew the system was corrupted. He needed to fix it, but in order to do that he needed to get his hands a bit dirty. He didn't want to be a real hero if he was doing that.

But… he then considered that it might be better if he cut off contact with his new friends completely. He didn't want to compromise because of their closeness if he were to ever get caught. He thought about that as he fell asleep that night.

Months then started to skip by. With nothing else to really improve on, Izuku began to start focusing on mass production of his drones. This was mainly so he could have a larger arsenal. He also largely needed more drones for the projectors and his suit, not to mention what he had in mind for attack combinations.

During that time he talked with Kodai and Shinso. They didn't talk too particularly often, but he spoke with Kodai a lot more than Shinso. They were probably really busy with their UA work so it was only reasonable that they didn't message all the time. Shinso did message him once to tell him that Eraserhead had given him an opportunity to train with him in preparation for a hero course transfer. Izuku congratulated him and despite his own feelings on the matter, he knew Shinso could be a great hero one day.

During his talking with them, he had also bonded with Kodai a bit more. They sometimes met at the beach, but it wasn't often, and typically talked about themselves or how life was currently going for them. Izuku had confessed to her that she was a sort of quirk nerd, but she didn't seem to mind. In fact, she enthusiastically asked him for tips about her quirk, which he excitedly obliged to do, even though he really shouldn't.

Hero internships had begun for UA students as well, and something that Kodai had told him about. They had to pick hero names too, and she decided to pick 'Rule'. He liked it and told her that it fit. She mentioned that she was interning under someone named Gran Torino, but he didn't ring any bells to Izuku. Upon looking him up, he found that he was a retired hero but not much else. He didn't think it was much cause for concern.

Something else to note was that the infamous Hero Killer Stain had been arrested in Hosu. There was also another attack by the League around the same time but that was of little importance. It was all over the news that Endeavor had saved three UA students from the Hero Killer. Apparently said students were Iida (who notably had a brother in critical conduction, courtesy of the Hero Killer), Todoroki (who was most likely interning under Endeavor), and Kodai. Izuku knew better than what the news said though, but he decided not to say anything. He had no proof anyway. At least they didn't care about the credit of the capture, which he majorly respected.

It had occurred to him sometime later that the drones themselves could be a huge asset in combat. Then it also occurred to him that he may have already written this somewhere before, but if he did he couldn't find those notes so he was writing them again. Anyway, using the drones's enhanced capabilities, including the cloaking, hovering, the projector, the Sonic Cannon, etc. he would be able to use them on people specifically to make them hurt themselves.

A more specific explanation is this: what if he used the drone's projector systems to broadcast an illusion around a particular individual, or multiple depending on the situation. He thought it was pretty genius and if he could stoke and prey on the person's fears and insecurities it would be an invaluable weapon.

Additionally he would have to find a way to hook up the drones to a better control system, preferably something either his eyes, voice, or mind can handle.

Sometime after that, Kodai had mentioned something about going to I-Island for some kind of trip, so they couldn't talk for a while. He wished he could go, but alas he was not able to. He would've liked to study some of the technology there. When Kodai had gotten back, she hadn't said too much about the trip. The only thing she really mentioned was that it was 'fun' and that there was an incident that had been resolved. Nothing more, nothing less. He supposed it didn't matter in the end, anyway.

Anyway, weaponry was greatly considered for his drones. He didn't want anything too bad, but something better than the Sonic Cannon would help.

So he then started thinking up ideas for suitable weaponry that would work well with his drones. He didn't exactly want to commit mass murder, so weapons of mass destruction were out. He thought perhaps a type of missile would work. He didn't want anything extravagant so one with a low acceleration and minimal explosion would do. He doubted he'd use it directly on people anyway. Perhaps a secondary function as a torpedo would be useful if he ever needed the drones in an underwater scenario.

He also found that perhaps a type of mini machine gun would be helpful. He didn't want it to be too powerful, as to not kill anybody, so perhaps a way to adjust the power of the shots being fired would be a nice feature to have if it were to be included.

In case he did add those in, he skillfully and to the very last detail designed the function of how the drones would work with them. For the missile/torpedo, a flap on the bottom would open and shoot it out. It would only be able to carry one though so it'd have to count. As for the guns he designed a mechanism to open a compartment in the drones to open if he switched them to combat mode (basically what the MCU drones look like and function).

While all of that was happening some things were happening over at UA. The final exams had come and gone, with the majority of the students in both classes passing. However, some of the more… enthusiastic students that decided to rush it and/or underestimate their opponent did not pass.

Apparently 1-A and 1-B did joint Final Exams as well. He found that a bit weird but he thought it could be handy to fix classes and fight against real opponents every once in a while. Not to mention, for a final exam it would be useful for some of the students to team up with people they don't know to put what they practiced with their class to the test.

Kodai and Bakugo surprisingly teamed up fairly well against All Might during their exam. Izuku didn't pay attention as to how it happened, since he didn't much care about the final exams, but he knew they had won somehow.

Kodai was actually the one that informed him of the fact they were happening soon, and told him she wouldn't be able to talk to him for a while. He understood that and let her be. The day of the exams though she messaged him, in what he assumed was happiness and excitement, telling him that she had passed. Even though he knew already, she just told her he was happy for her and congratulated her.

Not too long after that the UA students had gone on a Training Camp trip which was taken off of their schedules and plans so he didn't even know where they went. It was kept completely off of the books. Kodai told him about it as well, because he would've had no idea it was happening otherwise. She didn't tell him where it was though, probably because she had no idea.

However, they had gotten attacked by the League once again with Bakugo getting kidnapped in the process. None of the students were too severely injured though some had to stay in the hospital for some time. It was by this point Izuku considered that UA had a potential spy, since they had completely taken that trip off the record, he couldn't even find it, so someone had to have let that information leak.

Izuku went to see Kodai in the hospital late during the day, a day or so after he found out about it. She apparently had completely broken her arms fighting the villain Muscular and Recovery Girl had to come and do a lot of healing on her. When he asked why she pushed herself so far to beat Muscular, she had told him it was because of some twelve year old boy that was in danger. He admired her for that and noted to himself to look into the boy. He was worried about her, but she basically told him to forget it ever happened and that she was fine. He left ten minutes after that upon her insistence.

Following that the League was counter attacked by All Might himself along with a task force of other heroes. Izuku was too caught up in the fight between All Might and someone labeled as 'All for One' to pay attention to the specifics. From what he read, the League escaped, reckless UA students showed up to save their classmate, ending with All Might effectively retiring and exposing his skinny form to the world.

Additionally, Izuku ended up doing some side research about this 'All for One'. Apparently he was a huge symbol in the underworld that kept villains in check. His quirk, which was his name, All for One, was able to steal quirks from people and give them away. Now that he was gone more villains would start popping up out of the ground.

He decided to watch the new broadcast of the event too. To his utter shock, Kodai was there. Was that why she wanted him to leave so soon? He felt upset, yeah, but he could understand why she did it. Todoroki, Iida, a 1-B student, Yaoyorozu Momo, and another 1-A student Kirishima Eijiro, went to save him. He couldn't help but consider them to be real heroes.

Speaking of which, while Izuku had been checking black market sites to see if there was any weaponry suitable for him to use, he discovered a new site posted that specifically advertised one thing: a quirk erasing bullet. The effects were temporary but it was still incredibly useful in combat situations against heroes, especially ones that countered him, like ranged and wide-spread-attack heroes. They were expensive, but his website was still a roaring business and he was making a lot of money so he was fine.

The site was by some people called the Eight Precepts of Death, or the Shie Hassaikai as some called them, and listed a contact number, leading to a private channel for more details. He thought, 'why not?', and decided to try it out. He got in contact and set up a meeting date in a week from the conversation. He would use his illusion suit for the meeting, and depending on how the meeting goes he may do some other things as well.

In preparation of the meeting he decided to make a little bug of sorts that had a very tiny camera on it as well as an equally tiny listening device. He had gotten the materials off of the black market a long while ago, initially intending them to go on his drones, but this seemed to work fine too. Oh and he thought it would be best to put a tracker on it as well, just in case.

He was able to get his weapon's order in. He would have to go pick them up himself and go to a physical meeting with the dealer and all. He ended up finding a suitable double machine gun he could install into his drones, as well as ammo that wouldn't just kill anyone if they were shot. The ammunition would definitely hurt, but it wouldn't kill anyone. He also found a suitable missile/torpedo as well. It would take time to install them into the drones so he would be going to the meeting without them. Did he mention that he bought their entire stock of these items?

By the time the meeting arrived he was able to confirm the completion of around twelve total drones in his arsenal with many more as a work in progress. The process of building everything was getting faster and faster now that he was constantly working on them over and over again. He was basically just getting used to it to where it's become muscle memory.

He was also able to switch manual control over to a glass mechanical dome that could be operated with his eyes. It was more useful than the tablet he previously used, but he still carried that around his wrist for some other, separate controls.

In addition he was able to hook up an AI to the drone's computer interface which allowed for an easier command. They could switch to attack mode, protection mode, idle/hover mode, etc., or a combination of some. The only one that was mostly unavailable was attack mode due to the lack of weapons, but the Sonic Cannon did count and would utilize that if the mode was switched to active.

The meeting location was an abandoned warehouse somewhere in a closed off part of a small town. These guys really didn't want to be followed or found. The drones began to cloak and project the image of his suit over the Mo-Cap suit he wore, as well as his mechanical dome. Now he fully spotted his digital suit, fishbowl and all. It even came with a semi-voice modifier that somewhat muffled his voice as if he were really behind the helmet (it looks like the MCU suit by the way, and the projection lights cannot be seen).

Inside was some simple furniture including a couch, a few chairs, and a table. That's very little stuff for such a big place. On the couch was the leader, or he thought was the leader, with some of his men nearby as either guards, support, or witnesses. Across from the leader was a table and two chairs. They each wore these plague masks for some reason as well.

"Ah, there you are. Welcome, you are right on time." The one on the couch said, gesturing to the chair in front of him. "Please, sir, we have much to discuss."

Izuku wasn't worried about sitting since the projection wouldn't have any issues. And so, he sat down across from the man. The leader had bent forward with his fingertips together, staring intently at Izuku.

"My name is Overhaul, and you are…?"

Izuku has thought long and hard about what his name would be, finally settling on: "Mysterio."

The man nodded his head, still staring intently at him. He performed a very sharp intake of breath before speaking again, "You look like a hero." It was a straight accusation.

"I assure you I am not with the heroes." Izuku glared behind his illusion covered face. "You know what I'm here for."

The man glared at him, but before he could speak a small black creature thing started stomping its feet in anger, "Don't you know who you're talking too?! This is Overhaul, leader of the Eight Precept of-"

"Mimic, enough." Overhaul shushed him, "I admire your boldness in speaking. We do have what you requested, though the amount you ask for is quite expensive. Do you have the funds?"

"I have enough, yes." Izuku answered in his changed voice. "However I will only forward payment once I have what I want."

Overhaul nodded and motioned for two of his men to come forward in their hands they carried medium sized crates, "Each crate has exactly fifteen bullets in them, making it thirty total. That was the amount you requested, correct?" Izuku nodded. "Good, where do you want them?"

"Let me see first," One of the men dropped a crate in front of Izuku for him to see for himself. He opened it and they did indeed have the product he had requested. He closed it and backed away, addressing Overhaul again, "Ask your men to set it outside, I'll pick it up before I leave."

Overhaul ordered them to do just that, "Now, my payment?" Izuku lifted his left arm and began playing with his tablet. It was hidden under the illusion, but he could still see it through the dome he wore on his head. To them it may just look like he was pushing buttons on his suit.

Eventually, after a few minutes, the payment was sent, "Your payment has been delivered."

"Confirm?" One if the men checked their private bank for any new amounts of income, nodding when he confirmed the payment had gone through. "Very well then, I believe we are done here."

Overhaul stood up and turned his back to leave, but Izuku was curious about something, "If I may ask, how do you make these bullets? From what I understand in order to get rid of someone's quirk they need to somehow affect the person's quirk factor. How do you do it?"

The question made Overhaul stop walking away, and everyone else froze. Overhaul slowly turned his head toward Mysterio, a striking glare piercing him. Then, in a voice that was too calm for his liking, Overhaul responded, "Do not concern yourself over matters that do involve you." With that, he turned around and began to walk away again, his men turning their backs and following behind him.

Izuku knew something was wrong, especially now. He hit a button on his tablet and one of the drones silently fired a bug onto Overhaul. He didn't know where it landed, but he had the drone aim for his mask. It was small and almost like a speck; he shouldn't be able to see it.

Izuku then went outside the warehouse with his illusion suit still activated. The crates were there and still filled with the bullets. The problem was, how was he going to get them to his warehouse again?

After about two hours of lugging those crates all the way back to his warehouse, he decided he would do some experimenting. He opened one of the crates and took out a bullet from the inside with full intent on studying its components.

He couldn't start now though, it was too late in the day and he didn't have the right materials at the moment.

So, the next day he went out and bought himself a microscope and some other things so he could actually do the task. The first day was basically dedicated to him carefully trying to dismantle what he could without the main component on the inside coming out.

The next day was much more disturbing. He was able to extract the material from the bullet and effectively study it. When he found out, he had to fight the urge to vomit. The damn thing was made of somebody's flesh and blood. A human's flesh and blood. Like, what the hell!

Needless to say he went straight home and checked the bug he had planted on Overhaul.

Luckily, Overhaul had not noticed it. Izuku assumed that they were now in their main base of operations, so he used the bug to lock on to any devices in the area. There were some big ones, and a pretty hefty computer system at that. It was their main base alright.

He had hacked them without them knowing at all, covering his digital footprints every step of the way. He would admit, UA had a tougher system to hack than this one.

He started to investigate. He made copies of their files and started going through them. He found their base layout, which was something that was incredibly useful, as well as their bank information. He would come back to that later.

What he really wanted to find was information about the bullet. He eventually did find it, after a while of going through unimportant junk. Apparently, they used the flesh of some girl designated 'Eri' with the quirk Rewind to essentially reverse someone's quirk factor. They were even experimenting to try and make a permanent one too. They apparently had a few permanent bullets ready.

The process was sickening. Overhaul would use his quirk on this Eri girl to kill her and get her flesh, then use his quirk on her again to revive her and do it again. He wanted to vomit, he really did. He didn't even want to use the damn bullets now.

He found more information on this Eri girl in another file. She was, currently, around twelve years old, but the file had it listed as it not being certain. Her mother had given Eri to her grandfather, the former leader of the Shie Hassaikai, to care for after she had accidentally rewound her father out of existence. Speaking of her quirk, Rewind is an incredibly powerful ability. It only worked on organic things, but it can essentially rewind people to a previous state in their life. When her quirk developed she must have accidentally rewound her father to before he was even born, or worse, a fetus. She still must not be able to control it too much now either. Any more effects weren't listed, but Izuku pondered the possible uses and drawbacks of using a quirk like that on other people.

He surveyed the cameras in search of Eri's room location. It took a while, but he was able to locate it. It was very dark in there, he could barely even see what was in there without the night vision setting. In the room itself, Eri was curled up on the bed while dolls and other toys lay scattered around the room.

The poor girl was being tortured since she could use her quirk. He felt awful. He felt like he would be sick too. But, he came to a conclusion. He would save Eri!

But first… he needed more tools.

First thing was his weapons. He would be meeting with the people in a few days time, and he was supposed to be getting a lot of them.

Perhaps now would be a good time to set up a magnet to his drones so they could lift the things, huh?

So he did just that. He altered his already existing drones to have a magnet at the bottom, and made damn sure the cloaking device still worked. Like hell would he want to deal with that thing breaking. They should be able to lift whatever crates he receives now, but he still may have to have them make multiple trips since they could only carry one box at a time.

The meeting with the dealers had gone as well as he had hoped. Nobody asked any questions and the deal went smoothly. The drones had trouble lifting the crates at first, but with a little experiment regarding hovering and flight power he was able to get them to do it. They had to make a lot, and he meant a lot, of round trips, since he literally bought out their entire stock, but everything went fine for the most part.

Then came the part where he altered the drones to be able to even use these things. At least he had the designs and plans ready ahead of time for him to just follow.

During his altering time, Kodai had told him that Hero License Exams were coming up for her and that they were practicing super moves. She wanted his opinion on some ideas since she knew that he was interested in quirks and the like. He agreed to meet her at the beach the next day to help her out.

When the day came, the two met at the beach as planned. He had purposely scheduled their meeting for early in the morning because he wanted to have time to tinker with his drones during the day, and she had to get to class.

Izuku first asked her about whether she was focusing on both her quirks, only one, or a combination move between them. She had told him that she had intended to cover all of them.

Izuku pulled out his notebook and flipped to her page. He made sure she didn't see, and she was well mannered enough to not insist on viewing, which he highly admired and respected.

First off, he started with her quirk Size. He suggested that she may be able to carry small stones or some other small material somewhere in her suit for her to easily grab and throw. It would be an easy way to always ensure she had some kind of weapon.

He then went to her next quirk which they had decided to designate Super Power, apparently. He suggested that she could use her speed to discombobulate and confuse her opponents in combat. Use it like Super Speed, almost. "Run circles around the enemy, get crazy with your movements, make yourself hard to see and predict," is what he told her.

When she asked about a possible combination move for the two, he simply suggested to combine those two super moves. Utilizing her advanced speed and agility she could confuse the enemy. While the enemy was confused she could throw her rocks at them, enlarging said rocks and crushing them her opponents under them, or at the very least knocking them back or forcing them to make an opening.

She took those suggestions to heart and exclaimed to him that she would practice them. She thanked him before leaving. It was then he thought that it may not be the best idea to give possible future advertisers fighting advice.

Throughout the rest of the week he had worked endlessly in upgrading his drones. The early tests haven't worked. The mechanisms were the main problem. Sometimes they would open, other times they wouldn't, sometimes they'd malfunction and spark, other times they'd create a feedback loop and just open and close constantly at a rapid speed.

It was annoying, but not as annoying as the cloaking device.

He eventually got the mechanisms to work as intended, and by that time Kodai had messaged him to let him know that everyone in her class, except Todoroki because he had gotten in a petty fight with another kid, had passed. He told her he was proud and happy for her while asking how the super moves worked, in which she told him that they worked almost flawlessly. He felt proud and scared at the same time.

Even with the mechanisms working he needed to ensure the weapon systems themselves actually operated as intended. So, he dedicated even more time to that. It was complicated, and the weapons took up more room in the drones than he would've liked. It took a painful amount of time to actually figure out the right way for it to work. As for actual testing, he couldn't just fire missiles and shoot machine guns as the beach. Instead, he opted to just test them in the warehouse. What could go wrong?

A lot of things, as a matter of fact, could go wrong. He was smarter than that, how did he let himself be so dumb? He fired one missile, one, and it exploded a bunch of his spare materials. Luckily it wasn't big enough to cause too much damage or draw any unneeded attention, but it was still a loss of valuable materials and it could have gone so much worse.

But on the bright side the weapons were A-OK!

Izuku also finally utilized another version of his laser specifically for breaching. He thought it would be incredibly useful for his upcoming attack on Overhaul, so he installed a beaching laser cutter into every one of his drones.

Speaking of the drones, there wasn't much else to add anymore. He had added what he wanted to add and was now having trouble thinking of any other possible additions. Now was the time to start mass production on them again. Hopefully he would have a suitable amount by the time he decided to raid the base.

Kodai had called him a day or so after he began working on his drone production, mentioning something about a new internship and how she was being thrown into some kind of secret project. She told him that she would be unable to talk to him for a while again, which he didn't mind and understood. Throughout the conversation her voice seemed shaky and worried. Perhaps something happened? He'd ask her about it some other time, since she didn't seem like she was in the mood to talk about it anyway.

While he was working on his drones he had remembered that he wanted an actual suit to wear, not just using his illusion suit. He talked to his mother about it and she told him she would work on getting it made for him by some secret friends of hers. Even he didn't know some things about his mother's life. She asked him for the blueprints for the suit, as well as the design, and he gave them to her.

Regarding what was on those designs, he basically just had the suit specifics. However he made sure to specify that he wanted it to possess light armor as well as some basic durability. He didn't want to be too vulnerable but also didn't want to be completely weighed down by heavy armor. He didn't have any gadgets on the designs, he didn't think they were needed, but if he decided he wanted one added he could always do it himself.

He had made his third drone after starting production of them again when he came up with a particularly useful combat device. He thought about utilizing his Sonic Cannon again, but this time as something he could mount to his wrist and fire on command. He halted drone production to work on it.

It only took around a day of work to complete, but he had a version of the Sonic Cannon that was able to be strapped to his wrist. He adjusted its field of coverage, making it less wide. In extension that also adjusted the range to its reach was much farther than before. He had an amplifier attached as well in case he needed to change its power as well.

He had built his fifth drone when he finally decided that it was enough for now. He made one last quick upgrade to the ones he had currently in use- a small gun in the middle that would fire a singular quirk erasing bullet. He only had twenty-nine left, since he used one for studying, but he felt like this was a good use for them.

It was time to raid the base. He felt like he was more than well equipped to deal with the Yakuza now. He developed his strategy, and decided to go for it the next day.

When the day came, he left in the early morning to strike swiftly. He was able to get there without any trouble either, his now seventeen total drones accompanying him while cloaked. As for how he got there without any questions being asked, he just had his drones project normal civilian clothes over his Mo-Cap suit. It was simple, yet effective.

He had studied the base's blueprinted layout very precisely. It's upper portion was very basic and was layouted as a typical Japanese house; but underneath it was something much, much more. Underneath was an underground labyrinth that went on for miles. It was intentionally designed that way for many reasons, but the main one was so that they could move people in and out of the hideout efficiently and secretly.

There were many entrance and exit points, and he was able to find the most optimal one. Once he found the entryway he was seeking, he ordered one of the drones to begin breaching the wall as some of the others began forming his illusion suit around the Mo-Cap suit and dome he wore.

The upsetting thing about breaching having the drones use their weapons was that they had to uncloak to do it. The machine gun worked but only if he lowered its fire rate by a small margin and decreased his damage. As for the missile, he found that he could improvise a bit. If he had the drone uncloak for a moment, fire the missile, then recloak again, it would work. Or, alternatively the better option, he could just have another drone project onto the firing drone so it couldn't be seen. Additionally he could project onto the missile too so it was completely hidden as well. He would have to see, he supposed.

About midway through his breaching, he got a breaking news alert on his dome screen and tablet. Apparently heroes were also attacking the same base he was. Great. This wouldn't intervene with his plan at all. Overhaul likely was already on the move through the labyrinth with the girl.

He would have to improvise a bit. At the very least Overhaul's men would be spread out and too preoccupied with the heroes to worry about him.

The drone had breached the entryway a few moments later, making a big enough hole for him to enter through. There was a massive stairway leading downward into the large labyrinth below. He made sure all of the drones filed into the room before he started to advance.

There were a large variety of hallways and paths to go down, not to mention rooms and other places. It was a literal maze. Luckily, Overhaul was an idiot and still hasn't found the bug he had planted on him. He used the tracker placed within the bug to locate him and then started to navigate the labyrinth appropriately using the camera systems and file maps.

As he had expected, Overhaul was indeed on the move. He had Eri with him, as well as his second in command and personal assistant, Chronostasis, following with him.

He carefully made his way toward them at a fast rate. They were moving quite slowly, so most likely they were walking, but Izuku was running when he could. He certainly did not want the heroes to find him before he could do what he intended to do.

He was able to get ahead of their current path and intercept them. When he walked out of a branching path, the two of them stopped moving.

Overhaul looked rightly pissed, "You?! What are you doing here? You set up this attack, didn't you! You're with the heroes!"

Mysterio stepped into the middle of the hallway and faced them. "What I said back then was not false," he confirmed in a confident tone, "I am Mysterio, and I have no allegiances." He crossed his arms and glared behind his illusion dome. "However, I did find out how those bullets were made and I'm not a fan of it. Hand over the girl before she or anyone else gets hurt. This is your only warning."

There was silence for a moment, but before long soft chuckling was heard, which soon developed into striver laughter. "You think that we'll surrender to you? You have one thing, and that's guts. Nothing more. Chrono… do it."

Mysterio watched as Chronostasis opened up a red box which included four permanent quirk erasing bullets. Chronostasis casually loaded a bullet into the gun as the walls around Mysterio began to enclose, courtesy of Overhaul. The drones were fine though, he had them move out of the way.

Eri looked at Mysterio, or Izuku if you will, with shocked eyes. She looked like she was going to cry any second, mumbling things like 'stop' and 'don't' as Chronostasis loaded his gun.

"You made a mistake coming here, Mysterio," Chronostasis mocked as he fired the gun. The bullet shot out of the gun at a rapid speed, and next thing anyone knew Mysterio had been shot in the shoulder. Or, it phased through his shoulder?

The bullet made a loud clang as it hit a metal wall further back. Overhaul and Chronostasis stood there shocked. They had clearly miscalculated their odds and underestimated their opponent. They knew that now and began to start their physical attack.

Mysterio began to walk forward, uncrossing his arms putting them to his sides. "It was you who made the mistake, Overhaul. I'm afraid this is where your time ends."

As he stepped forward, he opened his palm and pointed it at Chronostasis. A great beam of energy, masked in a sort of green smoke, hit him in the shoulder right. Chronostasis felt as if he had been shot by something as he fell back and onto the ground. Eri, who stood next to Chronostasis, jumped back as he fell to the ground. Mysterio did the same for Overhaul before he even had time to react, hitting him with the same beam. Overhaul felt an intense pain in his left shoulder where he was hit, kneeling down on the ground while clutching the wound and glaring at his adversary.

As for Eri, the girl was just massively confused and disoriented. She looked at her two captors as they sat there hurt, contemplating what to do. "Eri," a voice called out to her. She turned to the other side of the hallway at the person she now knew as Mysterio. He lowered his illusion dome so she could see his face and motioned her to come to him, "Come, quickly, it's safe."

It was like she had been waiting for this moment her entire life, which she actually was. Making a split second decision she dashed over to Mysterio and grasped him tightly. He embarrassed her back, and she felt safe. He had caring hands, gentle and nice. The only other time she felt this about someone's touch was then she had met those two heroes in the alley, but they let her go. But, this time, she felt like she wouldn't be let go.

He let go of her and got her attention. He looked down at her, making eye contact. "Listen, Eri," he started to tell her, "you need to get out of here before anyone else shows up." He then pointed down the hallway he had come in through. "Go down that hallway until you reach the intersection. I'll meet you there soon." She looked at him, pleadingly and worryingly. "Do not worry, I won't leave you behind." He looked up at Overhaul and glared. "He won't kill me, either." He looked back down at her and pointed toward the corridor, "Now, go!"

She did as she was instructed and fled down the corridor. He prefabricated the illusion dome around his face as he watched Overhaul stand, still clutching his shoulder. "You…" he mumbled, taking deep breaths. "You're ruining everything!" He then quickly removed his hand from the wound and slammed it onto the ground. But, nothing happened. Nothing moved or changed. Overhaul stared dumbfounded at his hand and the ground, "What…" he glared up at Mysterio. "What did you do to me!"

"I did nothing you haven't already done to others. How does it feel being in the receiving end of something you've created?" Mysterio started to take a few steps forward. "I've seen what you've done to the girl. I've read the files. How would you like to experience what she did?"

"What are you on about… Chrono!" Overhaul attempted to order Chronostasis to attack, but before he could even attempt to do so Mysterio blasted him with another beam from his right palm, knocking him into the way and around twenty meters back, knocking him out.

"Let's see how you like it, Overhaul." Mysterio stopped moving as the entire hallway behind him turned into a black abyss, engulfing him and making him disappear. The darkness then proceeded to spread out quickly over to his side of the hallway, and Overhaul couldn't help but shield himself if preparation of a hit; but no hit came. Instead, he was surrounded by a black void that seemingly had no end.

He looked around, confused and somewhat frightened. All he could see was himself, nothing more, nothing less. He had no means of defending himself and he had no idea of what Mysterio was capable of or planning. After a moment of complete silence, the area around him began to change into an operating room, with surgical equipment scattered around. An operating table was behind him, prepared for some kind of surgery. The lights in the room were dim and blinking, almost like a horror movie, but this was very, very real.

His breathing increased, as did his heartbeat. He felt fear, and he had no means to stop it. That's when loud footsteps began to approach from the only dark portion of the room left. A figure began to emerge from the darkness with recognizable long, pale blue-gray hair. She had a sweet, almost innocent like, smile on her face as she emerged; but the smile also carried an unseen horror that Overhaul couldn't wrap his head around or even process.

The older form of Eri inched closer every second, a scalpel appearing in her right hand. A horrifying smile was plastered on her face as she continued to approach him, "No matter how much you beg, Overhaul." She said, her voice haunting and chilling to the core. She cornered him against a wall, his eyes actually quite scared as he visibly shook, something he never thought would be possible. She ripped the mask off of his face and held the scalpel to his eyeball, only centimeters away, forcing him to look straight at the sharp point. "I will never stop." Her eyes expanded into a more craze filled stare as her smile became wider and laughter escaped from her mouth, "Just like you did to me!"

She then lowered the scalpel straight onto Overhaul's eye. Hard. She backed away a bit as he fell over, screaming in agony while he covered his eye with his hands. She held the scalpel to his face again, "We're not done…" She slashed his cheek roughly, causing blood to gush out and spill across the room. Some blood had hit her face and clothes, but she didn't seem to care much at all. He let out another scream of pain.

She continued to torture him, slashing all across his body in the most painful places imaginable, even his private ones. No matter how much he begged or pleaded for the suffering to end, she wouldn't stop, just as she said she would.

Eventually she stopped cutting him, finding Chronostasis's gun nearby on the floor. She walked over to pick it up, then walked to somewhere else in the room to load the gun with ammunition, before coming back to Overhaul's practically dead, rapidly convulsing, body. Then, after a quick bang, it was all over. Overhaul was dead.

Eri stood in the intersection as Mysterio had instructed. She was worried and scared as to what could be happening. Should she go back? Should she stay? She didn't want anyone to die… so maybe that was the best option.

Before she could contemplate it anymore, she heard footsteps coming down the hallway. She looked toward the sound shakily and unsure. But, she was happy with what she saw. It was Mysterio, walking down the hallway, alone. He had some blood on him, but she didn't quite care when she rushed up to him and gave him a tight embrace. He had saved her, and she could finally leave.

He embraced her back, comfortingly and reassuringly. He pat her back as she cried into him. She as twelve, but had been through so much torture in her life that she had no idea what affection truly was. He swore he would teach her what he knew and help her out of the gutter she was in.

When he brought her home, his mother was shocked and Eri was frightened. She had initially thought he kidnapped her from somewhere, but he quickly debunked that and explained everything to her. He told her that he rescued her from the people that were torturing her and using her to make weapons. He had also explained to Eri that Inko was his mother, and that she raised him. He told her that Inko was a very nice and caring person who would help take great care of her. Eri trusted her savior.

Inko understood her son's reasoning and despite all of her concerns about how he saved her or even knew about her situation in the first place, she welcomed the young girl into the Midoriya family. Eri and Inko cried with one another that night.

Speaking of that night, Izuku also took the liberty of hacking into the Yakuza private bank and stealing all of their money. It was easy and now he had even more money to spare in case he needed it.

The next day Kodai had messaged him, asking to meet at the beach where they usually met. He agreed, wondering what she could want to talk about. It concerned and worried him that just a day after his attack on Overhaul she would want to meet with him. After all, she did tell him that she wouldn't be able to talk to him for a while. He wondered what could have come up.

When he arrived at the beach, she was already there. She looked out into the ocean as other people passed by. He approached her, greeting her with a simple: "Hello."

She turned to face him. Her face was visibly saddened and completely unlike her usually stoic and neutral expression. She looked at him, almost unsure as to what to say.

He decided to speak first, "Kodai… is something wrong?"

"I failed," she answered quickly. It surprised him, and it took him back a bit. But he recovered and waited for her to say more, "I failed, Midoriya."

He looked at her sympathetically, "What did you fail?"

She looked down at her feet, "I failed to save a girl that needed help."

Izuku froze in place. She was there. She was a part of that raid. It made sense now. Why hadn't he figured it out sooner?

"Tell me, please," she looked back up at him, her eyes pleading at him, he looked into them, awaiting her question. "Am I… a good hero?" She looked at her hands, forming them into fists. "Do I fit the ideal form of heroism?"

Izuku was taken back by the question. He didn't expect her to ask this, nor would he ever have. He knew how to answer it though, straight from the feelings he knew in his heart. "Yes, you are."

She looked up at him questioningly, "But, I failed-"

"But nothing," he interrupted. There was silence for a moment as he contemplated the wording for what he would say next. He sighed, moving closer to her and embracing her in a hug. "Sure, you failed. But everyone fails at least once. Everyone has their wins and losses. You can't expect to win every battle, and that's something you always need to remember." He felt her arms tug at the back of his shirt as he said this next part, "To me, you are the image of what a hero should be. Selfless, caring, willing to put themselves at risk for innocent people that need help. Never forget that."

They stayed in an embrace for a while after that, enjoying the moment with one another for as long as it lasted. Eventually, they broke apart. She rubbed her eyes with her sleeves as he looked at her, a soft smile on his face.

"Kodai, are you-"

"Yui." She interjected. He widened his eyes for a moment in surprise, "Call me Yui, please."

It took a moment to shake off his sudden shock. He had the tingle to stutter, but he was able to hold it back to say this: "Then you can call me Izuku, Yui."

They walked home together after that, splitting paths once they reached the first apartment complex. Izuku had mixed feelings even more now, but he still needed to do what he had to do.

He would first dedicate a lot of time to teaching Eri the things she needs to know, basic things learned in school that she was unable to learn because of her situation. He would skip the unnecessary stuff; being things that aren't necessarily required in the real world. Then, and only then, he would begin to teach her the more complicated stuff, but only if she was interested in the subjects. He should be able to get through most of her school stuff in a matter of months, since it's mostly basics. Although it depends on how fast she can pick it up.

While he helped Eri with learning, he would dedicate time to creating more drones. He estimated that he would have at least fifty in two months, time permitting, of course.

His mother had also informed him that his suit was in production. She said it may be done within a month if they rushed, but he insisted that they take as much time as they need. There was no hurry now.

Then, and only then, would he begin to move on his plan. He had it figured out, all he needed was the resources and preparation. Of course things may change between now and then, but he felt fairly confident in his position as of now. He would soon enact his plan and accomplish his goal. Though, he couldn't help but feel bad. Maybe his friends were affecting him too much.

Either way, it wouldn't change anything. Watch out world, because Mysterio is finally here.

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A/N: That took forever… again.

I know this was a pain in the ass to read, since it was so long, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway. I actually had a lot of fun making this.

Also, Mysterio is finally officially born! You finally got to see him in action and defeat such a big villain. That was only a taste, might I add. You won't be seeing him again for a little bit longer though; I still need to develop the other two major characters first. Character development is always the key to a good story.

Also, I'm not going to explain in-depth what Mysterio did to beat Overhaul. You guys should be able to figure it out from what you are given. The master of illusion is quite masterful, don't you think? I hope you enjoyed that illusion scene, I think I did pretty well on it. Overhaul may be a bit OOC but I think it fits. He had lost his quirk and had no idea what to expect from his enemy, and when he started to see what he saw he panicked. Anyone would when faced with something like that, I think.

Also, yes, I'm aware this will greatly influence the story since canon has been altered in such a way. Most notably Mirio still has his quirk and Nighteye is alive. I know this. I have plans for this.

Eri has now been introduced into the story as well. She'll play a bigger role later.

If you were hoping for a better coverage of the canon events like the Sports Fesitval and whatnot, don't worry, the Bakugo and Kodai chapters will cover them! However, I'm considering combining those two, but I probably won't.

On a side note, I added a little something to the beginning of chapter one if anyone is interested in it.

Again, I hope you enjoyed it. Bakugo's chapter is next, so prepare yourselves.


	4. From Bully to a True Hero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bakugo finds himself a bit.

A/N: Here is Bakugo's chapter. Here, you will see his development since the sludge villain incident up to where Midoriya's story left off.

Also, in the official translations for the show and manga it is "Bakugo" not "Bakugou" so I'm just going to go with "Bakugo" here.

I should probably tell you that I purposely left out the Cultural Festival from the last chapter. I plan on making that the start of the main story, so to speak. I need to develop all of the main players first before I can do that, though.

I should note before this begins, that even though this chapter is centered around another character, this whole story is revolving around Izuku/Mysterio. Everything is connected to him.

One last thing, the chapters are narrated like your in the character's head. So for Bakugo here, it won't be the same as Izuku's. Expect to see some cursing.

Anyway, here's Bakugo. I hope you guys like what I did with him. If you want to review and let me know what you all thought of it that'd be cool, I'd appreciate it.

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Bakugo Katsuki grew up thinking he was the best. He grew up thinking that, with his amazing quirk, he would eventually become the number one hero, taking All Might place.

Was it really his fault, though? Perhaps yes, but also perhaps not. He was always sort of groomed to think that way. People around him always had something good to say about him or his quirk. Constant praise, especially as a very young child, can quickly get to somebody's head.

That's what they did. Every day of his life, they would praise him. The other kids did it most of the time. As he grew older he knew why: they wanted to be a friend of the future top hero. The teachers and school administration were almost the same. They wanted to have a name in his history as well, to tell the world that they were the ones that trained and taught him.

Yet Katsuki still let his ego run amok.

He had a best friend when he was really young. Since they were born, more like. The first four years of their lives were full of nothing but good memories with one another, albeit he couldn't remember much more as he grew older.

But the time came when they would get their quirks. At four years old, Katsuki got his quirk. Explosion; an incredibly powerful quirk, which in summary can create explosions from his hands using his own sweat. Anyway, he asked his friend when his quirk would come but his friend always said it hadn't yet.

Months went by after that and Katsuki has started to get praised a lot more than he previously did. He still talked to his best friend, but it wasn't that often he did so anymore.

One day some kids pulled him aside for some reason, much to Katsuki's confusion. They told him that he should stop talking with someone, and he quoted, "quirkless", and a "freak". They said that if he talked to someone like that, he would never make it to the top.

And, being the gullible egotistical child he was, he took their advice.

It wasn't long until his friend, Midoriya Izuku, came to him. He told Katsuki that he wouldn't get a quirk. Ever. Katsuki remembered what everyone had said to him then, and responded to his former best friend.

He remembered the hurt in his eyes that day, but he chose to not let it get to him. Instead, he would move forward and become the number one hero. Just like All Might.

As the years went by, he would still follow him. This kid, who he designated as a useless, Quirkless, freak Deku, still followed him. He was desperate for his approval. He wanted to be 'friends' just like when they were young. Katsuki was annoyed and was going to have none of that. He would make sure the green speck in his story knew its place.

Deku still had that meaningless dream going into middle school and beyond. How had he not realized it yet? How many times did Katsuki have to show him he had no place in the hero world? He took his notebook one day, burned it, and tossed it out of the window.

Deku cried, and Katsuki felt something. What was it? Was it guilt? Surely not… but he would admit he felt this same thing for years. Before he left the room, he became the most idiotic person in the world. He said something he shouldn't have ever said, and it would soon forever haunt him.

Katsuki suddenly stopped walking only a foot or two away from the door, and with a smile he turned around with a wicked smile. "You know, there's a quick and easy way to get a quirk," He noticed that Deku had perked up after hearing that. "Take a swan dive straight off the roof, and believe you'll be born with a quirk in your next life."

The two suckers with him had laughed while Katsuki gave a small chuckle. Deku cried and Katsuki felt like shit, even though he smiled. He shouldn't feel bad, this was the only option for him.

Later he found himself in an alleyway with the two kids from before. They were talking to him, but Katsuki was too lost in his own thoughts.

Katsuki thought about his feelings; but he would never say that out loud. He thought about the feeling he had carried for years around Deku. It always came back when he hurt the greenette, but he would think nothing of it. But when he said what he did today… it hurt more than ever. It was guilt, Katsuki concluded.

He was torn. Why did he feel guilty? People had always told him this was right. Wasn't this the right thing to do? Quirkless people shouldn't go into heroics… it was too dangerous for them. But, was he going about it all wrong?

Katsuki kicked a bottle across the alleyway, which ended up hitting a pole. The cap blew off of it and whatever the contents were inside spilled out. Katsuki let out a very loud sigh, exposing the can he was previously drinking from, finally deciding to pay attention to what the two lackeys were saying behind him, "-want to go to the arcade?"

Katsuki grunted, turning to face the one who asked him for a second, "yeah, whatever, not like I got anything better to do."

That's when a large shadow began to engulf the alleyway. The two lackeys began to quiver in fear, much to Katsuki's confusion, but when he turned around his eyes widened as he began to shake.

A villain made of what he assumed was sewage started expanding into a bigger entity. It looked at him with big eyes while smiling with a huge mouth that could swallow him whole, "An invisibility cloak with a great Quirk!"

Before Katsuki could even attempt to flee, the sludge shot at him and trapped his limbs. He then brought Katsuki to him, encasing him in the sludge. Katsuki, on instinct, let loose the largest explosion he could muster up at that moment.

The explosion devastated the alleyway into a more open section as fire began to sprout around them. The lackeys became trapped by the flames while Katsuki was slowly being suffocated by the sludge villain.

Heroes came, but were ultimately useless in either the environment or situation. Death Arms couldn't punch the villain, then proceeded to stand there and do nothing. Mt. Lady couldn't come in because of the single lane, but Katsuki screamed in his head that she could just shrink and regrow to fit. Kamui Woods was at risk due to the fire, but he saved the lackeys and other civilians, and Backdraft was trying to control the flames.

Katsuki was suffocating and most of the heroes that showed up were idiots. He literally saw his life flash before his eyes. At that point, he completely thought he was going to die. He would die with regrets and poor life choices he could only think about now with no way to make amends.

But, by some miracle before he passed out, All Might showed up and punched the villain to kingdom come. Katsuki was able to breathe again, move again… he was free.

He stood up, slowly. His vision and hearing were still disoriented and off focus. Heroes came up to him and started to talk to him, but he couldn't hear them nor did he care to.

He looked at the palms of his hands which were held out in front of him. His vision was still blurred, but he could tell they were shaking. His hearing was coming back too, but it was still muffled.

Katsuki had a moment to think about everything. He was wrong. This entire time, he was wrong.

He couldn't just blast his way out of this. He wasn't the strongest like everyone had always told him he was. He was an ordinary kid with the same ordinary weaknesses as any other kid.

He had always berated Deku for being an idiot, mostly because of his far-fetched dream of becoming a hero. Now, Katsuki was the idiot. He was an idiot because he let his own ego blind him from what was truly right and wrong. When his life flashed before his eyes, he realized that for most of his life, he was the villain of the story, not the hero.

The worst part was it took a near death experience to figure this out too.

The heroes were talking to him still. Katsuki considered the possibility that they may not know exactly what his condition was and were trying to get it out of him.

When his hearing came back, however, he heard something else. "That was amazing toughness! And that Quirk! Once you're a hero please come to my agency!"

...was this bozo serious?

This… fucking idiot, was coming to him about his agency. Now. Right after he just narrowly survived death.

Katsuki looked up at the hero who was just blabbering to him about how great his quirk was and whatnot. He fixed him his own intimidating glare, which caused the hero the stutter.

He glanced around for a moment after that. It seemed that as quickly as All Might had come, he had gone, leaving everyone else in the dust. He supposed it was fine, since he was probably busy or whatever. Death Arms and some other heroes began to approach him.

"What bravery, young man!" Death Arms praises, his hands on his hips and a smile on his face. "You held your own against that villain admirably and well. I'm glad you are alright."

Katsuki didn't say anything at first, looking down at the ground in front of him with a thinking stare. Then, he let out a mumble. It was barely audible, so nobody heard it but they knew he had said something.

The heroes all looked at each other in a concerning manner as Death Arms held out his hands, still smiling, "What was that, young man? We couldn't quite hear you."

Something just sort of snapped inside of Katsuki after that. He was keeping it back, but just listening to their voices was pissing him off. His eyes snapped open into a wide stare, his fists clenched at his sides and his head shot yo to look at them. He yelled straight to their faces, "I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

The volume at which he yelled got the attention of everybody in the area. Reports, civilians, other heroes, anyone nearby had heard him. They all looked at Katsuki, who was seething with anger by now.

His fists were clenched so tightly that those who could see it swore blood should be coming out. "I…" he began, "I almost died!" He aggressively pointed at the hero who was trying to promote their agency. "I almost died and you feel like it's necessary to fucking promote yourself! Get fucking lost you wannabe trash!"

The heroes were starting to sweat. News crews and reporters were only feet away and were now pointing their cameras over in their direction. It was clear to Katsuki that they didn't want any negative light shone on them.

Oh he was about to have a field day.

Death Arms, the ever most competent hero he was, tried to reason with Katsuki and calm him down, "Listen kid, we know you've been through a lot. But let's just take deep breaths and-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Katsuki exploded at Death Arms, who physically jumped back in natural fear. His voice was so loud it echoed through the entire alley. Katsuki aggressively pointed at Death Arms next, "You tried to punch him once. Once! That was it! Then you just fucking stood there while I was suffocating! Then you have the nerve to tell me to take a deep breath?! A few minutes ago I couldn't even breathe!"

Katsuki growled at them as he noticed journalists behind him start writing things down. Good.

Katsuki scammed the heroes for who he would expose next. His eyes eventually landed on Mount Lady, who was trying to sneak away. The fucking nerve of her! "You, Mount Bitch!" Katsuki yelled at her, causing her to jump and yelp in surprise. "You could have just fucking shrunk yourself to fit in the alley! Then you could have easily regrown! Are you fucking stupid or were you not even trying!"

Katsuki had to catch his breath. He was letting out all of his anger out on these heroes who didn't do their damn jobs. He'd probably get yelled at by the Hag when he got home, but it was worth it. He noticed the journalists writing more in their notebooks and the news people seemed to be getting as much footage as possible. The fact that the heroes had no counter arguments was making their situation worse.

He felt like he was done for now anyway, he'd done enough and carried his point across like he wanted. He couldn't stand idiocy anymore. First it was Deku, then it was him, now it was these heroes who didn't know how to do their fucking job.

He shoved past the heroes, who didn't even try to stop him at this point in fear of provoking him. Katsuki wasn't completely done talking though. He stopped in front of the news cameras. The cameramen had turned them to get a full shot of his face. Katsuki then spoke: "To all of you heroes that don't do your job properly, you should be ashamed of yourself. I'm going to become a hero and show you how it's done. All of you better watch out."

He left after that, without even looking back. Luckily nobody decided to bother or follow him. His message was sent and that was what he wanted. All those heroes better get their fucking acts together before he made them. Deku, even though he was as Quirkless as anyone could get, would have done so much better if a job then them. He would have actually tried.

Midwalk home, he ended up getting lost in his own thought again. He knew he was wrong, but what did he do now? Apologize? He didn't even know if he could do that, and even if he could he was sure that Deku wouldn't accept it. Would he? He was always nice to him no matter how much of an asshole he was back. Also, should he still call him Deku? He had called him that for so long it became a habit.

He looked at his right hand, remembering all of the times he had used it to hurt his old friend. He clenched it into a fist. He was an idiot. Just because he was quirkless didn't give Katsuki the right to play judge. He thought of all the alternative things he could have done, but stupid him decided to have an ego.

He should just talk to him. Yeah, talking, Katsuki was an expert in human interaction skills so it should be no problem. He would talk to Deku at school.

Deku wasn't at school. The next day when they had school, Katsuki immediately noticed that he was missing. The teacher didn't say anything about it either, he just carried on the lesson like normal. Was it normal, though? To Katsuki, the teacher seemed to be smiling a lot more than he usually was. He wondered why that was.

Katsuki could understand why Deku hadn't come in though. After what he had done yesterday… if he were him Katsuki wouldn't have come in either. Katsuki sighed and looked toward the window as the class went by.

The next day, he still hadn't shown up. Katsuki felt nervous. He felt like something was very wrong… like he had a part in something that should never have happened. He brushed it off. Deku would be there the next day, he was sure of it.

He wasn't there the next day. Katsuki felt sick. He went to the nurse's office and was able to get out of school early that day. He tried to keep his mind away from the possibility, but the more he considered it the worse he felt.

A week of school had gone by and he hadn't shown up. He had heard nothing about him since that day. Katsuki feared that perhaps something happened. He hoped it wasn't the worst case scenario though… he didn't know if he would be able to take that.

A month of school went by. No Deku. Katsuki got sick that morning and was allowed to go home early again. Katsuki felt as if he didn't deserve to be where he stood, to have the quirk he had, or to even consider the possibility of becoming a hero. He deserved none of it. Why? Because he drove Midoriya Izuku to suicide.

It was his fault. He literally told him to do it. He stood there after beating him up and told him that he should take a swan dive off the roof. Was this why the teacher was so happy? Had he not heard about it because nobody could give a damn about a Quirkless kid? His mother didn't talk to Aunty Inko anymore so he couldn't confirm but it made sense, it really did.

Katsuki slammed his fist into the wall; the impact created a loud bang that could be heard through the entire house. It hurt, but he didn't show it. In fact, he deserved the pain.

"WHAT ARE YOU HITTING UP THERE YOU BRAT?!"

"NOTHING, SHUT UP YOU OLD HAG!"

Katsuki was just over it all. He was over idiocy. He would become a hero, but not for the same reason as he once did. No, he didn't want to be the best anymore. Instead, he would become the prime example of a hero. He'd show those incompetent fools how to do their fucking job.

He realized that being a hero wasn't just about winning, but also about saving. You can't win if you don't save. He failed to save Midoriya Izuku from death. He caused someone to die. He wouldn't make that mistake again.

Instead, he would help them. He would help the people who had dreams achieve them. He would show that it was possible for anyone to become a hero, just like All Might did. That's the hero he wanted to be, because he was sure that's the kind of hero Deku would have been.

The entrance exam came in a flash. Katsuki stood outside the gates of U.A., looking upon the massive building. He was nervous, he wouldn't lie.

He wasn't the same person he was over a year ago now. Instead he had tried his best to mellow out. He tried to restrain himself a lot more. He asked his mom to sign him up for anger management classes, in which she promptly dropped the plate she was holding in shock. Was it that hard to believe he was willing to do anger management?

He put his hands into his pockets and started to walk through the gate. He would've made it inside without any issues, but things didn't always turn out the way he liked.

"Umm… are you the guy from that fiasco a while back that called out all of those heroes?" A nervous voice asked from his right.

Katsuki stopped walking and decided to look at who had called him out. It was a girl with a round face, pink cheeks, brown bobbed hair that went to her shoulders… and Katsuki didn't care anymore. "Yeah, what of it, Round Face?"

Her face heated up to a dangerous degree as she started to wave her hands nervously in front of her. "N-No reason! I j-just saw it o-on the news a while ago and I-I thought you were sorta c-cool!" He grunted, so that was it? She sort of reminded him of Deku from the way she spoke. He examined her from her face to her legs; she looked like him too. Katsuki didn't want to have a duplicate around, he didn't think he could take it. "U-Um, can you please stop glaring at me?"

Oh, was he glaring again? He looked away at a quick speed and began to trudge forward. Yeah, sometimes he tended to glare at annoyances. As he walked, he raised his right hand in a backward wave, not looking back. "Thanks, Round Face, but I'm not here to be praised. Go find someone else to bother."

He didn't bother listening to what she had to say after that, or what her facial expression surely morphed into. He just found his testing room and waited for it to start.

It took about two hours, but everyone was finally starting to funnel into the auditorium. The written test was too easy for him, since he'd been studying nonstop for over the past year now. He'd quickly realized that Deku's analysis skills were very handy.

As he waited for everyone to come in, he noticed the empty seat to his left. He knew who was supposed to be there. He didn't ponder on that for too long though, or else he'd get worked up again and nobody liked it when he did.

Eventually, everyone finally got their slow motherfucking asses into the auditorium so Present Mic could begin to go over the exam. Katsuki didn't much care for a boring explanation, so he just tuned most of it out and only started to listen in again when the important stuff came up.

In summary: there are three robots, one pointer, two-pointers and three-pointers. Destroy robots for points. Katsuki couldn't help but think that this test was dumb. What about the people with less combat oriented quirks? There are support heroes too.

During the explanation, some four eyed prick decided it was a good idea to call out the teacher for something he hadn't gotten the chance to explain yet.

"On the printout, there are four types of villains. If that is a misprint, then U.A., the most prominent school in Japan, should be ashamed of that foolish mistake." Katsuki already hated him. "We examiners are here in this place because we wish to be molded into exemplary heroes."

Katsuki rolled his eyes. Who did this guy think he was? Some elitist?

"In addition, you over there with the spiky blonde hair!" Katsuki's full attention was now on the blue haired kid. "You've been loudly grunting this entire time! If you're not going to take this seriously then you should leave immediately!"

Katsuki glared down at him with a hard look on his face. "You got something to say, Four-Eyes? How dare you accuse somebody of not taking this seriously! You seem to have this backwards, since I'm not the one acting unprofessionally by jumping out of your seat to ask something Present Mic hasn't even explained yet!"

The people in his general vicinity, including Four-Eyes, flinched. Four-Eyes didn't seem to have any comeback either, only proving to Katsuki he was right. He wanted to use his more… enhanced language but he needed to remain professional.

"UM… GOOD QUESTION, BUT THE SPIKEY BLONDE BOY IS RIGHT, I WAS JUST ABOUT TO EXPLAIN IT!" Present Mic tried his best to keep the atmosphere from dropping to something too awkward, and it worked for the most part since most people started to pay attention to him.

The blue haired boy that acted like a robot spoke again, "O-Oh, my apologies." He bowed to the both of them before sitting down again and continuing to watch Present Mic.

Katsuki let out a "tch" before sitting down himself, crossing his arms and also continuing to watch the explanation.

Apparently the thing the kid made a big deal about was the zero pointer, an obstacle robot that didn't give any points. It wasn't a big deal, dammit!

It finished up soon after that and everyone started getting on buses for their respective testing zones. He had Battle Center A. He couldn't help but notice that everyone on his bus tried to specifically stay away from him. He clicked his tongue on the room of his mouth. He didn't really care. He wasn't there to make friends.

Eventually they all stood outside of their respective zones. He stood close to the gate, ready for them to open so he could blast through and get it over with.

"GO!" A voice boomed over the loudspeakers as the gate snapped open in seconds. Katsuki didn't waste time, using his Explosion quirk to blast his way into the Battle Zone at an explosive speed.

The other examinees didn't even move, thinking it was a ruse. Katsuki smirked; it was their loss, not his. Something he always knew and remembered was that there was no countdown in a real battle.

It didn't take him long to find a cluster of robots. A lot of them seemed to pile up in one spot, in a sort of defensive formation almost. It was interesting, to say the least. Three-pointers were sitting around the middle while one and two-pointers were littered around the large area in overlapping hexagon formations. Now a bad formation.

Katsuki continued to blast toward them. There was a single two pointer in the middle of the road, which he set course for. He hit it head on, using his hands and feet and cushion his impact a bit against the robot before using one of his hands to blow its head straight off. It collapsed to the ground after that with Katsuki standing over its downed form.

The other robots turned toward him, muttering something about eliminating him. The three-pointers locked onto him with their missile launchers while the one and two-pointers began to charge. The one-pointers were coming in a lot faster than the two-pointers, and it wouldn't be long before the missiles fired. He had an idea.

He first drew in the one-pointers and used them as shields against the missiles. The one-pointers were destroyed almost immediately by their own team. The two-pointers were too easy to deal with as well; Katsuki used his explosions to quickly skip between them and blow each of them up. The three-pointers were easy once he got within ten meters of them, since their missile launchers couldn't lock onto him at close range. He destroyed them swiftly as well.

Katsuki was sweating by now. He had to do a lot of moving around to get all of them, but at least now his explosions would carry more firepower. He didn't bother to keep track of time and points. It wasn't necessary, really. More robots began to file into the open area from connecting roads, making Katsuki smirk. This would be fun.

Minutes went by, and he was forced to move around the Battle Center. He was starting to get pushed out by the robots, mainly because some fucking three-pointers figured out how to snipe him from the roofs of buildings nearby. He couldn't do anything about it since he was too preoccupied on the ground, so he had to leave.

Katsuki didn't know how much time was left, nor did he care since he was positive that he had enough points to pass anyway. As he exploded his way through the Battle Center, he saw a purple haired kid with tired looking eyes getting cornered by some one and two-pointers.

Now If it were the old him, he would have just left the guy to fend for himself. But now, he was different. He changed course for those robots, letting out a powerful blast that took out the one closest to the kid. The robots shifted their attention to him, beginning to strike. A two pointer started to jab its tail in Katsuki's direction, only for him to use his explosions to jump up and above it. He landed on top of the two pointer's back, steadying himself as it started to flail around recklessly in an attempt to shake him off. The only thing it ended up doing was flinging it's fast moving tail into its teammates, destroying them. Katsuki promptly destroyed it after that.

He turned to the purple haired kid he had helped save. He had fallen to the ground, and was now sitting up against the wall of a building. He held a hand out to the kid, surprising him, "C'mon, get up, the exam's not over yet."

The kid took his hand and Katsuki yanked him up. Pretty roughly, actually. The purple haired kid, who Katsuki now dubbed as Tired Eyes, took a minute to catch his breath. Katsuki turned to leave, but something the kid said stopped him, "...thanks."

Katsuki didn't say anything, standing there still. He eventually turned his head back to the kid and gave him a nod, before blasting off once again.

The rest of the exam was nothing interesting. Katsuki just continued to go around the Battle Center and destroy robots for the remaining amount of time. However, that damn zero pointer was huge! What the fuck! Even he didn't feel like dealing with that! He did help a few people up when they had fallen down running from the thing though. He was sure Deku would have done the same.

He left the exam feeling, admittedly, extremely exhausted. Though he didn't mind, since he was confident he passed both portions of the exam. U.A. just let them go home after that, which began his two week wait for the results.

A few days later he found himself lying on his bed staring at the ceiling, lost in his own head. though he knew that he passed, he still couldn't help but feel nervous. Nervous about other things, mostly. He turned onto his side, changing his view from the ceiling to the wall. He still felt unending amounts of guilt for killing the one person who would truly stick by him. He killed someone. Well, maybe not directly- but he influenced it. So, did he deserve to be a hero? Was he worthy of being a hero?

He didn't think so, but he knew he still had to anyway. He wanted to honor the person he inadvertently killed. He only felt that it was the right thing, despite how wrong he was in life. He took a silent vow, that he would change and become something better. Deku was the image of a true hero. He would put himself at risk for those who needed help, not caring at all about his own injuries. He figured that out way too late, but it was something he knew he had to become now.

About two weeks after the entrance exam was when his letter came. He opened it, and, as he expected, he was accepted. He got the second highest score at 93 points. He wondered who beat him. But, what surprised him was that All Might was the one telling him he passed in a projection. He said something about teaching at U.A. now. Deku would have loved that.

The first day at U.A. would be something Katsuki would probably remember for a long time. So, where would he start? The very beginning, of course.

He had woken up and gotten to the school fairly early, mainly because he wanted to figure out where everything was on the first day. U.A. was a pretty big building so navigating it could be a bit difficult and he could risk arriving to his class late.

It turns out he was right to be prepared because it took him a while to find the class. The door was huge, probably for people with growth quirks or something; he didn't really care about it that much. He went inside, quickly found his desk and promptly sat down.

But, apparently, the Four-Eyed guy that yelled at him during the presentation ended up passing too. And, when Katsuki decided to kick back for a bit by putting his feet on the desk, the prick came running over to yell at him! He moved his arms robotically, he was all stiff and he was just plain annoying. Katsuki really wanted to punch him, he really did.

Turns out that the guy was actually a stuck-up elitist after all! His name was apparently Tenya Iida and was from Somei Academy, a private school. No wonder why he thinks he's above everything. But,despite wanting to argue back he just compiled and removed his feet from the desk to shut him up, which thankfully worked. After a minute more of scolding, he left. What was his name again? He'd just call him Four-Eyes.

As more students began to funnel in, he began to examine them. Someone in the back had a really bored expression on his face, his hair having white on the right and red on the left. He'd keep an eye on him, since he had a feeling that he'd be something special among them.

Another guy just walked in with yellow hair and a black zigzagged line running along the left side of it. He was really chatty with some midget with purple balls for hair, who sat two seats behind him. How did he already know that the yellow haired kid had an electric type Quirk. He'd probably call him Pikachu. As for the purple balled haired kid, he'd call him Balls-For-Brains- mainly because he was ogling the breasts of the girl that sat behind him.

Speaking of her she seemed shy, almost. However, he noticed that she had this type of 'official' or 'proper' aura around her. Was she another elitist? He'd keep an eye on her. He tried to think of what to call her, when it suddenly hit him! A stroke of genius! She had a Ponytail, so he'd call her Ponytail!

Some girl with a mutation earphone jack quirk came into the room soon after Pikachu and Balls-For-Brains. She seemed nervous as fuck and desperately scanned the room for people to interact with, eventually finding Ponytail and actually starting a conversation. They seemed to get along well. Katsuki would call her Earphones.

Another came in the room with- holy shit that was some shitty hair. He had sharp teeth and red shitty hair, which is probably what he'd call him from now on. He was also really chatty with a pink skinned girl that went to the next class over. The girl had some of the weirdest eyes he'd ever seen. He'd probably call her Raccoon-Eyes.

More people started to walk in, one with orange hair and another with black hair that reached her shoulders in a bobbed cut. They were talking with one another in a friendly sort of way. He couldn't help but notice that they were both extremely fit, accompanied with a good amount of muscle to boot. The black haired girl had a neutral expression that could kill, while the orange haired girl seemed all cheery with a "go-get-em" attitude. He'd call the black haired one Neutral Face and the other one Orange Hair. Neutral Face sat behind him and Orange Hair sat somewhere else.

A kid with a bird for a face entered in after them. And, oh my god, did he seem like the edgiest kid here. Like, he just looked like the kind of guy that would have black as their favorite color and talk about depression or some shit. Katsuki continued to look at him as he took his seat further back in the classroom. What would- oh. Katsuki gave off a scary, amusing chuckle that made some of the people around him either flinch or raise an eyebrow. Birdbrain, he'd call him Birdbrain. It was genius.

A girl with white hair, looking like a ghost, entered in with a girl that looked like a frog and another girl that had vines for hair. He'd call them Ghost, Frog and Vine Hair respectively. There was also an octopus looking guy that he'd just call Octopus. There was also a girl somewhere in the back that looked like she had little to no confidence and she seemed to keep to herself, not letting anyone near her for what she could see. He couldn't discern a suitable name for her yet so he'd do it once he knew more about her.

Some kid on the other side of the room really weirded him out. He just acted so… would gay be the word? He always spoke in a french accent or something and Katsuki felt disgusted by the way he looked at people. He'd call him Gay, maybe that'd make him set himself straight.

Eventually Katsuki just got bored of watching people come in, so he just looked at the front of the classroom until whoever their teacher was arrived. It seemed like everyone was here too. That's when he noticed something outside of the door, a figure in a yellow cocoon. A giant caterpillar?

He slugged his way into the room, eventually making his way to the front podium. Most of the class hadn't even noticed him in the room yet. This guy was their homeroom teacher. He got out of the sleeping bag and… Katsuki swore he was a hobo. How'd this guy get into the building?

After a few more seconds of chatter, he decided to speak up. "It seems that this class has a lot to learn about being heroes after all." The class promptly shut up at that remark, looking at the hobo in front of the class. "It took you way too long to quiet down. Those precious seconds of talking could have cost someone's life on the field. If you're here to socialize, then get out now. This is the hero course." He had a stern look in his eyes, along with the bloodshot and tired look he already had. "I'm your homeroom teacher, Shota Aizawa. Nice to meet you."

The class screamed in confusion after that. Katsuki guessed that's probably the reaction his mother had when he asked for anger management classes. He understood so much more now.

"This is sudden, but put on your uniforms and meet outside on the field in ten minutes."

After that, they all followed his instructions. Katsuki and the other guys went into the boys locker room to change, as did the girls in their own locker room. Katsuki was approached by Shitty Hair. He asked about the sludge incident and the way he talked back to Four-Eyes during the presentation about the entrance exam. Katsuki only brushed him off, because looking at that damn friendly smile started to remind him of a certain someone.

They all met out on the field within seven minutes of the ten given. "Good, you're all early." He complimented. "It's always good to show up early to unknown situations."

It was vague but Katsuki understood what he meant. Basically, they just played the parts of heroes responding to an emergency situation. They put on their hero suits and showed up to the situation. Being early is always a good thing because you never know who might need help at any given time and always being exactly on time can cost a life.

"You're going to take a quirk assessment test." The class screamed again. They were annoying. At least Neutral Face and a few others were docile.

Someone asked about the orientation crap that's probably just incredibly boring. Katsuki couldn't care about it, this was going to be more interesting than that by miles.

"If you're going to be heroes you don't have time for such leisurely events." Aizawa started to explain. "U.A.'s selling point is how unrestricted its school traditions are. That's also how the teachers run their classes." Some of the other students straightened themselves in preparation, as Aizawa turned toward us. "You kids have been doing this sort of thing since junior high, so it should be no issue. This time you just get to use your quirks."

"Woah, really?!" Some energetic girl exclaimed from further to his right. "That sounds like fun!"

"Fun, you say?" Aizawa mumbled, but it was still audible to everyone. Katsuki knew that this wasn't going to be good, at least for them, not him. "Fine then, the person who places last on this assessment, or if I deem you unworthy and without potential, will be expelled on the spot."

The class erupted into a fit of protests, but a few people stayed quiet. Neutral-Face, the duel haired kid, and Katsuki were the main three that stayed silent. Then, someone had the nerve to say it wasn't fair.

"Unfair? Natural disasters, big accidents, and selfish villains. Calamities whose time and place cannot be predicted. Innocent people, everyday, get caught up in those things, and this is unfair? The world is covered with unfairness. You're going to be heroes, so get used to it now, because heroes are the ones that can reverse those situations. In the field it's often do or die. The next three years at U.A. will only give you one hardship after another to prepare you for that. So, overcome it with all you've got because if you don't… well, you know what happens then."

Everyone remained silent, processing the speech they were all just given. Katsuki knew he was right, because over a year ago he was in one of those situations and almost died. It wasn't fun.

Aizawa turned toward Neutral-Face, "Kodai, you finished at the top of the practical exam, right?" All eyes fell onto her now, as she looked at their hobo teacher and nodded. 'So, this is who scored higher than me in the Entrance Exam's practical test. I wonder what quirk she has,' Bakugo thought as he watched. Neutral-Face nodded her head at the teacher's question. "In junior high, what was your best result for the softball throw?"

"Fifty-one meters, sir." She responded, no real tone to her voice.

Aizawa tossed her a ball. "I know you have a particularly unique situation, so you may do as you please with any one of your quirks. Or both, if you want. Just don't leave that circle."

She walked over to the circle as Bakugo became lost in thought. He stared at her curiously. What did Aizawa mean? Two quirks? But it was impossible for someone to be born with two quirks, right?

He stopped his train of thought as the girl prepared to throw the ball. First, she enlarged it in her hands to around twice the size, out the ball in her left arm, then reeled her arm back. However, what Katsuki noticed was that there was a peculiar energy building up within her arm. It retreated further up her arm into her index finger and as the ball rolled onto said finger, she launched her arm forward to throw the ball. The energy that built up in her finger went straight into the ball as she threw it, making it skyrocket out of there at a lighting speed.

The entire class, Katsuki included, stood there dumbfounded at what they had just witnessed. Katsuki simply couldn't believe what he had seen. Two quirks! She had two quirks! They were so powerful too. Katsuki looked at their teacher, who was just looking at the device in his hands as if it were just a normal day.

Eventually after probably about twenty-five to thirty seconds the device made a ding sound which caught the class's attention. Aizawa showed it to them; it showed an astounding 1,532.7 meters.

Katsuki glared at her. 'How dare she… how dare she have two quirks when Deku had none! She was hogging two to herself like that… she must think she's so above us by showing off like that.'

Small pops erupted in Katsuki's hands, catching some eyes from the other students. Needless to say, some of them flinched when they saw his menacing glare and outright terrifying snarl. The pops in his hands started to evolve into bigger explosions as his teeth progressive clamped harder around one another.

But, he stopped. He clenched his hand into a fist and stopped making pops. He took deep breaths to try and calm himself, because if he lashed out now he'd ruin the progress he had made up until then. Eyes were on him, including Neutral-Face and the hobo, so he calmed himself down.

Aizawa didn't seem to care about the near explosion by Katsuki, only continuing to explain the assessment after he had calmed down. It seemed that eyes were off of him for now too, but Neutral-Face was still looking at him. He glared back at her, but she didn't have any outward reaction to it, which made him angrier.

He decided to just completely zone everyone else the fuck out for the rest of the day. He'd only pay attention to the people he wanted to keep an eye on. Neutral-Face was an anomaly, and he would watch her like a hawk. Something wasn't right and he sure as hell knew it.

The 50-meter dash was first. Katsuki was up against Birdbrain, and it didn't seem like it was anything too much to worry about. He had some sort of sentient quirk (he knew because it popped out once), but it didn't help him with this test. Katsuki simply used his explosions to cross the line in 4.13 seconds.

Neutral-Face was up against Orange Hair. He didn't know what Orange Hair quirk was but apparently neither of them could use them to assist with the dash. They both ran normally, but they were quick. They reached the goal in a little after 6 seconds, with Orange Hair coming in a little faster than Neutral-Face.

It made sense as to why Neutral-Face didn't use either quirk. Size manipulation wouldn't help during a run and her strength enhancement seemed to take her limbs out of commission. Her finger was still swollen, but she still continued like it didn't bother her at all. The damn hobo even looked proud for some damn reason Katsuki couldn't understand.

On a side note the duel haired bored guy used ice to accelerate himself. Katsuki figured that he had almost two quirks as well, but he knew it wasn't like Neutral-Face. Neutral-Face had two completely unrelated quirks; this guy had two elemental ones, Fire and Ice, which he read somewhere are able to somewhat bond genetically unto a weird mutation, sometimes. This guy was able to shoot ice out of his right and fire from the left, so he officially dubbed him Icy Hot.

Ponytail had some sort of Creation quirk. It had something to do with her body, but that's all he could really determine for how it worked. She created roller skates to accelerate herself. This class was interesting, wasn't it?

Grip Strength was next and Katsuki nailed it with 101.3 kilograms. There was an octopus guy in the class that got around 540 kilograms but that was beside the point.

Orange Hair used her quirk this time, it was some kind of growth quirk. She used it to make her hands grow larger, resulting in an increased strength and durability. She used that strength to almost crush the device she needed to simply squeeze, but it was more than enough to pass it.

Neutral-Face though broke another damn finger over a stupid grip strength test. She used her left hand's pinky to destroy the thing. She passed, but what the fuck you didn't need to go that far.

Icy Hot couldn't do anything with his quirk and Ponytail just created a vice to squeeze it for her.

Standing Long Jump was next. Katsuki simply used his explosions to propel himself across the entire thing. Icy Hot did something similar with his ice, but he used it to build a tower over the starting position so he jumped from a higher spot and cleared the jump. Ponytail created a trampoline and bounced as far as she could across- didn't stick the landing though. He realized the way she makes these things is incredibly revealing, in which he just didn't care but looked away. It seemed Balls-For-Brains and Pikachu really enjoyed it though. Katsuki wanted to punch them, because if they were just there to look at girls then they had no place as heroes.

Orange Hair was able to use one of her enlarged hands to launch her over the jump and use the other to catch her on the other side. Neutral-Face just did it normally since she clearly didn't want to break a leg, literally.

Repeated Side Steps was where Balls-For-Brains really shined. He used the balls on his head to continuously bounce himself off of. Clever use of his quirk, Katsuki would admit. Mostly everyone else, including Katsuki, was forced to do it normally because their quirks simply didn't really help with it.

Finally, the Ball Throw had arrived. Neutral-Face was exempt from the throw since she had already done it. Orange Hair used her large arms to launch the ball. First, she extended them out as much as possible, then spun them around in a circle a few times to build velocity before launching the ball. It got far, 371.3 meters.

Ponytail created a canon to shoot the ball. Personally, he'd have used a tank, but whatever. It got farther than he thought, 846.9 meters. Icy Hot used his ice to propel the ball into the air, but it only got to around 463.8 meters. Katsuki would've thought he'd use his fire, since it would be the better choice for this one, but perhaps there was a reason he wasn't using it.

When it got to Katsuki himself, he grabbed the ball and went inside the circle. He needed to surpass Neutral-Face's score. He wouldn't let her be on top with her two quirks! He reeled his arm back and prepared the biggest explosion he could muster, and let it rip!

The ball exploded into the air at a record speed. Katsuki was still standing back up straight when the ball went out of sight. The machine in Aizawa's hand beeped not too long after, and it showed a score of 756.7 meters. Katsuki let out a loud and angry grumble as he went back to the rest of the students, but accepted his score.

The remaining tests were nothing special and something nobody needed quirk assistance for. Sit-ups were just a plain race between people to see who could get the most done. Katsuki ended up losing to Orange Hair, who didn't even look out of breath. Where the fuck did she come from?! Neutral-Face didn't do too bad either, only finishing a little before he did. Ponytail apparently struggled because of her large breasts but she was able to pull through and finish in the middle somewhere. Icy Hot did the fourth best in the class behind Katsuki.

Seated Toe-Touch was absolutely nothing and dumb. There was nothing to note about that one.

The Long-distance run was interesting though. Aizawa said he'd let us use our quirks for only ten seconds when it started, then it came down to whoever had the best athletic skills. He got third… third! Orange Hair and Neutral-Face has some sort of athletic power too that enabled them to have such long lasting stamina. Katsuki and Icy Hot managed to finish pretty close to one another in time, while Ponytail sort of dragged in the middle somewhere. Balls-For-Brains and an invisible chick he hadn't even noticed until now were dead last.

With that done, the results were in! As were the complete list of Katsuki's appropriate names for his classmates. The results are as follows:

Yui Kodai (Neutral Face)

Momo Yaoyorozu (Ponytail)

Katsuki Bakugo

Kendo Itsuka (Orange Hair)

Shoto Todoroki (Icy Hot)

Tenya Iida (Four-Eyes)

Fumikage Tokoyami (Birdbrain)

Mezo Shoji (Octopus)

Eijiro Kirishima (Shitty Hair)

Ibara Shiozaki (Vine Hair)

Reiko Yanagi (Ghost)

Pony Tsunotori (Horse)

Tsuyu Asui (Frog)

Yuga Aoyama (Gay)

Hanta Sero (Tape Arms)

Kinoko Komori (Mushroom)

Denki Kaminari (Pikachu)

Kyouka Jiro (Earphones)

Toru Hagakure (Invisa-bitch)

Minoru Mineta (Balls-For-Brains)

Even though he was exceptionally pissed he got third he understood why. For one, Neutral Face had two quirks, one an incredibly strong strength enhancer that let her dominate two of the eight tests, and an incredibly high fitness bar. He figured that she must run and work out often.

Ponytail was a similar case. She was also incredibly fit, but her quirk was also incredibly versatile allowing her to create literally anything, at least from what he could tell. It was perfectly reasonable as to why he lost.

Balls-For-Brains dropped to his knees rather dramatically. He began to cry loudly as well, drawing everybody's attention. Vine Hair went over to console him, as did Frog.

Aizawa looked down at Balls-For-Brains, "Mineta, why do you want to become a hero?" It was a simple question but the answer could greatly differ from person to person, and Katsuki already had a hunch about what Balls-For-Brains would say just from this morning.

He sniffled dramatically with fat tears and snot coming out of his nose, "I-I-I wanted to become a hero b-because it would get n-n-noticed by all the giirrrrls!"

The girls consoling him promptly backed off when he started motioning his hands as if he were groping a girl's breasts. Katsuki glared at him for his reason of becoming a hero.

Aizawa let out a disappointed sigh. "Mineta, go get your things and report to Principal Nezu's office so we can transfer you to General Studies. You are hereby expelled from the hero course."

"W-What?" Ponytail suddenly exclaimed, making people look at her. "It wasn't a logical ruse to make us work harder?"

Katsuki decided to step in at this point. "Hell no it wasn't, Ponytail." Some people were confused by the name he had given her but eagerly waited for him to continue. "Last year he expelled the entire class of A-1 for being unqualified for heroics." Katsuki made sure to do his research before his first day, just in case.

Ponytail suddenly paled, as did some of the other students. "O-Oh," was all she could really say to that, as she hung her head down in embarrassment.

"As for the rest of you," Aizawa spoke again, completely ignoring what had just happened, "go back to the classroom. There are handouts with the curriculum and whatnot there, take one and look over them." He then walked over toward Neutral Face, "Have the old lady fix you in the nurse's office."

He walked away after that and let everyone do what they needed to do. The rest of the day was nothing to note either, as everyone just changed clothes and eventually went home for the day.

The next day was mostly spent introducing ourselves more thoroughly and establishing what would be learnt in our general classes. It wasn't until basic hero training came in the afternoon when things got more interesting.

All Might was, as Katsuki had guessed, teaching the class. Ever since All Might announced himself to be a teacher at U.A. in the hologram Katsuki had been trying to determine what class he would teach, but quickly concluded he would teach heroics. It was obvious in retrospect.

He had taken them out to Ground Beta for some kind of Battle Trial. They each had to change into their respective hero costumes.

Katsuki himself had the design he'd finalized years ago. It was composed of a tight, black, sleeveless tank top, with an orange "X" across the middle, forming a v-neck. It also has a metallic neck brace worn with rectangular ends that have three holes on each side. His sleeves reach from within his large grenade-like gauntlets to his biceps. The belt, which also carries grenades (for practical use or for show he wasn't sure yet), holds up his baggy pants with knee guards, below which he sports black, knee-high combat boots with orange soles and eyelets. The mask was jagged and black, and as it goes around his eyes, a large, orange-rimmed flare shape protrudes from each side.

He wasn't particularly interested in much of the other costumes, but he did decide to look at the people who interested him. Icy Hot had… a particularly weird costume with ice covering over his fire left. Nothing much else to note about that. Ponytail's costume was revealing and made of some kind of special fabric. That's all he would look at regarding her.

As for Neutral Face, her costume consists of a simple red bodysuit with a white collar trim, a matching "V" pattern running over her chest and around her upper arms, which also includes a short white skirt with a red design at the front, dipping so it follows the one in her chest. She wore plain vambraces, as well as a hat which resembles the front of a baseball cap, colored red with white U-shaped lines around the sides, with a metal piece resembling a fin attached at the back of the strap around her head.

An accessory Katsuki noticed was a belt at her waist and straps around her shoulders. There was what appeared to be an oval-shaped gemstone set between them on her chest, and each was adorned with a small pouch. Katsuki considered that there may be small items in there for her quirk, but he wasn't sure.

Orange Hair's costume was nothing too particularly special to Katsuki. She wore a turquoise knee-length qipao, over which she had a black double-breasted corset, ending just below her breasts. She also sports black short pants under the qipao. As for accessories, she wears a loose brown utility belt around her hips, a satchel attached at the back, a thin black domino mask around her eyes and white-heeled navy blue boots with wide vamps that reach down to her toes; filled in with white slips.

While it was questioned that they wouldn't receive any basic training, All Might pointed out that practical experience taught better, and that they taught the basics along the way. Katsuki could get behind that. He figured All Might would know a lot more about it then any of them.

They ended up drawing cards for a random teammate. Katsuki wasn't paying attention but apparently Four-Eyes, who was dressed in a full set of armor, started complaining and it started a small little thing.

Speaking of Four-Eyes, he was drawn as Katsuki's teammate. Katsuki actually loudly groaned, much to some people's annoyance. He didn't care to note anybody else's teams. He would pay attention to the teams when he found his adversaries and had to watch the other ones.

Speaking of his adversaries, they would be Orange Hair and Neural Face. This would be interesting. Katsuki was already smirking.

He and Four-Eyes would play the villains and the other two would play the heroes. They were each given some time to come up with effective strategies. Katsuki and Four-Eyes went to the bomb on the top floor while the heroes studied the layout of the place.

"It would be beneficial for us to come up with a viable strategy." Four-Eyes reasoned, looking at Katsuki for a response.

Katsuki, however, was staring intently at the doorway. He really, really wanted to charge down to the lower levels and bring the fight to them. However, that'd be stupid. He'd be at a complete and utter disadvantage. He would have to play with the team for a while.

He was… a bit confused when he turned back to Four-Eyes to respond. How exactly did he cooperate in a team? He had never really done this before. Maybe he just needed to think like- yes! That was perfect.

"Alright, listen up Four-Eyes, because I'm not going to repeat myself!" Katsuki yelled at the Engine Quirk user inside of battle armor. Four-Eyes perked up, looking intently at Kastuki and waiting for him to continue. "Alright, so first, we're up against a nightmare team. This means that their quirks suit each other pretty well."

"What do you mean, Bakugo?"

"I mean that they can easily flow with one another. Neutral Face has a size altering quirk and Orange Hair has a quirk that alters the size of her hands, effectively making it so she can lift larger objects and have a larger shield. If Neutral Face was to grow a, let's say, a small rock into a bigger boulder, Orange Hair would be able to chuck it at us."

Four-Eyes considered this for a moment, putting a hand to his chin dramatically to think, "You're right. Although I don't condone the names you give our classmates I must say you have logical reasoning. Do you have a plan?"

Katsuki smirked, "As a matter of fact, I do, Four-Eyes." Katsuki pointed to the bomb. "First off, we're keeping that right there and we'll wait for them to come to us. The bomb being in the room will limit their area of attack regarding projectiles, since if they hit it there's a high chance the bomb would explode." Katsuki looked back to the doorway. "Second, it would probably be best if we section them away from one another. Opposite sides of the room," he pointed to their left and right, "preferably one of those sides, since this room is fairly big. Doing this will prevent them from relying on each other too much, and if we're always on the offensive during the fight they can only focus on blocking or evading."

Katsuki turned back to Four-Eyes to see if he had any objections or interjections, "Who will each of us take on them? Surely you've thought about it."

Yeah, he'd definitely thought about it. "I'm taking on Neutral Face. I have a score to settle. You take on Orange Hair."

"But will that hinder our success or not? You have to think about-"

"I already did, Four-Eyes." Katsuki unconsciously shot him a glare that made the armor covered kid flinch a bit. "You're fast, right? Then you can get close to Orange Hair before she can enlarge her hands. She takes a few seconds to get them completely enlarged. As for Neutral Face, I'd be best if I take her on anyway. Her objects could end up getting stuck in your Engines and that'd be a problem, or they could just obstruct your running space. My explosions can just blast them away so it won't be a problem for me."

Four-Eyes nodded his head. "Solid reasoning. Very well, we shall wait for them."

Wait for them the two of them did. It seemed to take a lot longer than either of them would have liked, even after All Might started the match.

Eventually the two girls found their way up to the top, and Katsuki glared straight at Neutral Face. She noticed and went on guard. Four-Eyes stood there with his arms crossed staring intently at Orange Hair, which she also seemed to pick up on. It seemed that the opponents were mutually confirmed silently between both sides. Orange Hair stood in front of Four-Eyes on the right and Neutral Face stood in front of Katsuki on the left.

After a few moments of having a silent standoff, waiting for the other team to make a move, small pops began to sound from Katsuki's fingers. It diverted everyone's attention to him for a few seconds before Four-Eyes and Orange Hair began to stare at one another again.

Katsuki then suddenly blasted off at a roaring speed at Neutral Face. She was prepared though, because when Katsuki thrusted his forward, aiming for her face, to hit her with an explosion she quickly ducked her head to the left to dodge. He ended up exploding the wall instead, making it crack and fall apart.

As Neutral Face jumped further to the left to gain some distance, Katsuki looked at Orange Hair. Maybe he'd assist Four-Eyes a bit? He quickly raised a hand to Orange Hair's stomach and blasted her with an explosion before she could do anything. She was blown to the other side of the room, and Four-Eyes seemed to notice the opening and began to rush her.

Katsuki looked back at his opponent, the two silently glaring at one another again. Katsuki charged forward again, this time going for a right hook. It was dodged again, but Katsuki kept going on the offensive. He repeatedly threw punches in places that would make her move but unable to counterattack. He was forcing her back toward the wall, and once she was close enough he aimed his hand at her chest and set off an explosion. She was prepared, however, and ducked under it. She then swiftly swept him off his feet using her legs, making Katsuki fall onto the ground and barely catch himself with his hands.

She made a run for the bomb but Katsuki quickly recovered and caught up to her using his explosions. She opened one of her pouches and threw some small things at him, like screws and rocks, quickly beginning to enlarge them. He blew them away, mostly to the size, before they could delay him too much and continued after her. He swung at her with his left hand but she saw it coming, ducking around it again and turning around to try and punch him with her right fist. He moved his head back, making her fist fly up in front of it.

He grabbed her fist in his hand and forced it to his left side. She tried to punch him with her other fist, but he grabbed that one too and forced that to his right. He was stronger than her, and they were stuck in a biased hand lock, with Katsuki slowly forcing her downward.

He grit his teeth in frustration. She was stronger than she seemed, as it was getting progressively more difficult to hold her down. Something bugged him, so since he had the opportunity, he asked, "Why aren't you using your other quirk, Neutral Face?" He put more force down on her, "You can easily take me out with that."

She, who also had her teeth grit, repositioning her right leg into a better supportive position under her in a split second. Katsuki kept pushing through, despite her resistance, "Is that why you hate me?" She quickly asked, surprising Katsuki. She was perceptive, he'd give her that. "Because I have a second quirk?" She was barely able to talk, because doing so would divert her full attention from keeping Katsuki back, "Or, is it because of something else?"

Katsuki grunted in annoyance. His grip tightened on her fists as he began to bend them upward, "I have my reasons." He then brought his knee up and straight into her stomach. It took the wind out of her and allowed him to force her to the ground. He took huffs of breath after the struggle was over, standing over her as she also caught her breath. He was about to restrain her, but he unexpectedly got hit with a large rock and slammed into the wall.

He was discombobulated for a moment, wondering what the hell had just happened. But, before he could even do anything, the speakers boomed: "HERO TEAM WINS!"

Katsuki's eyes widened as he stood back up, moving the boulder off of him. What? How in the actual fuck did they suddenly win? Then, he realized it. The items she enlarged and threw at him earlier. He had only knocked them away, so Orange Hair must have found them and used them to her advantage. His teeth grit tighter than before and his hands enclosed into fists.

He calmed down though by taking deep breaths. His anger management classes worked like a charm. He looked over to the other side of the room, seeing Four-Eyes' area enclosed with some of the items Katsuki previously knocked away, restrained on the ground. Neutral Face must have continued to grow the items a bit more while she was still running away. Katsuki cursed himself for not noticing anything was up and getting so easily distracted.

Katsuki walked over to Four-Eyes while Orange Hair went over to Neutral Face, freeing him from the restraints Orange Hair put on him. Four-Eyes stood up on his own as Katsuki simply walked back to the observation room.

They all regrouped back in the observation room after a few minutes, with Orange Hair helping Neural Face walk. Despite All Might's insistence on going to Recovery Girl she refused.

Speaking of her, she was declared the MVP of the match. Apparently she was complimented on a few things, like how she came up with an effective plan and backup plan in case things went south, how she was able to improvise the situations and allow her teammate to gain an upper hand, and finally for sacrificing herself for the team to succeed.

It almost did go to Katsuki for his incredible analysis of the situation and strategy. However, it didn't because of the way he was easily distracted during the fight, letting his opponents take advantage of openings which ultimately led to their victory.

Katsuki was mad. Pissed, even. He glared at Neutral Face while he sat in the back corner of the time in the observation room, the entire time. Only once did she look back at him, and even that was only for a moment before she continued to spectate the other matches. He didn't even feel like doing that. The only thing he really pick up on was that Icy Hot dominated his match by freezing the entire building and inevitably his opponent, giving him easy access to the bomb.

The day ended soon after that, and Katsuki was quiet. While the others went back into the classroom, he decided to leave. It was the end of the day, after all, and he didn't feel like sticking around anymore than he needed to.

He heard footsteps behind him once he reached the gate. "Bakugo!" Someone called him, making him stop and turn around to face them. He saw Neutral Face a ways back, looking at him with a hint of concern. He glared at her.

He seethed, "What do you want?"

"Why do you hate me so much?" She asked, simply. She even looked a tad downcast by that. "I can see it in your eyes everytime you look at me. What did I do, I want to remedy it."

Katsuki wasn't sure what to think. It was true he held a strong dislike for her, but he didn't think it was that bad. The girl seemed pretty upset by it too. "Cry me a river, Neutral Face," was all he said, turning his back to her. He wasn't going to show her any sympathy while she hogged two quirks and others out there got bullied for having none. He would tell her just that. "You can't remedy the existence of your two quirks." Katsuki's face darkened as he started to walk forward, through the gate. "People out there get bullied and pushed to suicide for having no quirk at all, when you sit here with two. And for that, I will always hate you. Nothing can change that."

With that, he left her standing there as he exited the school gate. He didn't bother looking back to see her reaction, not much caring about it. Only a few seconds after he left the gate, a single tear rolled down his cheek, but he wiped it away and continued to move forward.

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A/N: This is going first because it's a priority message I want to get out there. Okay, so, I'm leaving Bakugo's chapter here and I'm going to begin Kodai's chapter in the next one. The reason for this is, well, because it's going to be easier to just knock through them at the same time rather than rehash everything again for the third time. It's just easier that way. So the next chapter will leave off around here as well, and then it'll be a joint chapter from there. I may change my mind, I'm not sure yet. If anyone has a better way to do this then feel free to PM or review it.

As for why I had to leave it here, it's already at like 13k words so... really long. Also, I think this ending fits really well. I hope you guys enjoyed some of the fight choreography as well.

Also, I know you guys want more Mysterio action. Trust me when I say, I do too. I like writing Mysterio/Izuku in this story. But, in order to have a good story, I need to touch on the other characters and develop them first.

I do hope you guys like how I write Bakugo here. I thought I'd be best that he'd be humbled after everything that happened, and with a sudden disappearance of Izuku he has more guilt than he knows how to deal with. He's right too, who would report about a suicide of some quirkless loser? They're basically ants in a world of quirks, and it's been shown a lot of times that society really doesn't treat the quirkless that well. It's perfectly reasonable to think he drove Izuku to suicide, and because of that I think it would probably shape Bakugo into someone a little different.

If any of you caught it, what Bakugo says to Kodai will later influence the interaction at the beach with Izuku (not the first one but the last one), in which she indirectly offers him One for All.

Alright, now, before anyone starts leaving a review or something saying "Aizawa doesn't expel his students it's confirmed to be a logical ruse", let me explain to you why you're wrong.

Multiple times in the manga it's been confirmed that he actually expelled his entire class the year before the canon takes place. You can look this up to confirm, and I can't really leave links here. Also, straight after the Assessment in the anime All Might confronts Aizawa and straight up calls in a liar. The only reason Izuku wasn't expelled was because Aizawa saw potential in him.

I needed someone gone for the open seat in 1-A here.

As for why Mineta specifically got expelled, I think it's pretty reasonable. His motivations for becoming a hero are the same as in canon, and Aizawa won't tolerate that reasoning (he was never asked in canon so he didn't face any consequences). Also, Mineta has a poor physical structure, so he can't really be of much use in combat unless he uses his balls but that's not always a guarantee, if you get what I mean. Lastly, I'm not even sure how he got through the Entrance Exam. Like, he's, for one, incredibly weak, so how the hell did he destroy any robots. Second, he's incredibly cowardly, from what we see of him in literally every combat scenario after this he's running away or cowering in fear. He even did it in the fight against Midnight.

Also, yes I used the wikis to give costume details. I couldn't explain their aesthetics properly… I feel sad. :(

Last thing, again, apologies if there are any terrible grammatical errors or anything, no editor and things may slip through every once in a while.

Edit: Fixed an issue with Yui during the entrance exam so it makes more sense.


	5. From Quiet and Alone to Rising Hero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kodai becomes something she never thought she'd be.

A/N: Here is Kodai's chapter leading up till the end of the Battle Trial. I'm still on the fence about what I'll do, but I'm pretty sure I'm just going to combine Bakugo and Kodai's point of views in the next chapter, which will feature the USJ onward up till, I hope, the Hassaikai raid.

I have a little game for you guys to get more involved with the story in the author's note at the bottom of the chapter. Hope you guys have fun with that.

I'm glad a lot of you are liking this version of Bakugo. Yeah, he was pretty hypocritical when he talked to Kodai at the end of the chapter, but you expect Bakugo to realize and admit that? Plus, his view has changed. Someone in front of him is sitting on two quirks, which one could have easily gone to someone with none.

I hope you guys like this version of Kodai as well. Of course she's not going to be identical to the Kodai in another fic, or even to the canon one, but still she'll have similar attributes to them. I hope you like this version.

You'll see more of Izuku in this chapter and the next one, but it'll be stuff we've already seen just told through Kodai's point of view. So, not really much difference regarding that.

So, I'll be honest, the first part of this chapter may be a little iffy. I may come back and change a few things if it is required, so there may be altercations with it.

As I said previously, I'm not going to completely rehash the Quirk Assessment Test since you all have already seen it. I'll run it over with a brief summary with Kodai's thoughts and commentary but the entire event will not be replayed. I will do the Battle Trail again though since I think it's necessary to see Yui's point of view on it.

The next chapter, and maybe the one after it, will be the last of the setup. Mysterio will be showcased once again in the following chapter, since it's the Cultural Festival. Don't worry, very, very soon you'll see more of him.

Anyway, here's Kodai's chapter. I'll admit I had some trouble with this one. Leave a review if you want, I'll appreciate it, since I like the feedback. Again, sorry for any grammar mistakes I'm trying to correct as many as I can, but if you see any major stupid ones that are absolutely ridiculous then please send me a PM telling me specifically where it is so I can fix it.

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Kodai Yui was never a particularly normal girl. No, never really normal in the traditional sense.

She was always alone, in her younger years. Even when she got her quirk she continued to stay separated from her peers.

Why? She didn't really know herself. It was more voluntary than anything, but it wasn't necessary that either. It was more of the way she was, then her actions or others. She didn't mean to be the way she was, it was sort of just the way she was.

She was always sort of inexpressive, and unreactive. She never laughed at a joke, never really cried, and never really not mad. She was just sort of neutral in every possible way, including her voice.

On top of that, she never had the best social skills. She couldn't hold a conversation to save her life and it always ended up driving everybody away. It made her sad, not that she could really express it. It's not like she was trying to dissuade people from being her friends, but it just happened.

She supposed that she had gotten it from her family. Her father was pretty shy and feared social contact, in a way. He was bullied a lot when he was younger for having a virtually nonexistent quirk.

Her mother, however, was pretty much exactly the same as her, not giving away any reaction to anything or outwardly expressing anything with her voice. However, her mother expressed what she typically couldn't do with her voice and face with her actions. When Yui was a baby and upset, her mother always hugged her, soothing her with her touch and comfort.

Yui, at around four years old, thought that she'd incorporate that into her social interaction.

As it turns out, the other kids think it's incredibly creepy when a random person just starts hugging you out of nowhere. Needless to say it drove people away still, and Yui was ultimately left confused as to how she should interact with people.

As she grew, Yui ended up getting used to it. She adjusted and adapted to being a social outcast among her peers. No sort of bullying ever took place, which she was happy about, but she still was always sort of disconnected with people her age.

Yui never experienced a friendship once in her life. She didn't know what it meant to have someone to talk to, spend time with, gossip to, and more. Sure she could do all of those things with her family, but it isn't the same as doing it with a friend. Well, that's just what she read online, anyway.

Even though she didn't have any social life, Yui didn't let it hold her back in her academics. She, in a way, let the lack of distractions funnel her focus into studying. She excelled in almost every subject in her early school years, all except Physical Education.

She was even given the option to skip up some levels of school, but decided against it in hope of one day making some kind of friend. She never let her hope vanquish, even after so many years.

Her analytical skills, much like her physical stature, was much to be desired. She couldn't read people for the life of her. The only way she could figure out that someone in her class was really angry (not at her, just in general) was when he started to punch the desk. She was a bit dense in that aspect.

She was a late dreamer too. She didn't exactly know what she wanted to be when she was older, even through the years growing up. Everyone around her spoke of heroes in some grand light she couldn't understand. She knew they helped people but she didn't know what was so desirable about the job. Was it because they wanted to spotlight? If so, she felt they should look for another occupation.

Speaking of occupations, she wasn't sure what she wanted. Her quirk, Size, was able to be used for a lot of different things. She just wasn't sure what she wanted.

She began to narrow it down more and more midway through elementary. She had found that she had a knack for wanting to help others. She wasn't sure how she exactly discovered it, but her heart sort of screamed at her to do something more by helping people that needed it.

She thought that, perhaps, it was because she always felt, in a way, helpless. Helpless in a sense that she and nobody there for her in her times of need console her. Her parents weren't home a lot due to work, so she was alone most of the time and ended up falling into a small depression because of it. She wanted to help people by telling them that they weren't alone; never alone, not like she was.

She also wanted to protect them. She wanted to let them know that they'll always have a shield when faced with an opposing sword. She had witnessed many cases of bullying, and sometimes she would regret not being able to do anything about it, lest she get into trouble. She wanted kids to grow up being hopeful and bright, not shadowed in darkness and depression.

She didn't realize that she was basically thinking about heroics until about a week later when her mother pointed it out to her. Only months later, when her mother asked her what kind of career choice she was considering for the future, did she realize it.

Despite having the full support of her parents for heroics, she still wasn't sure about it. She didn't really think she was hero material, plain and simple. She often asked herself if she would be able to instill hope into people's minds. Was she the kind of her people could count on?

It scared her, truthfully. She was scared of the job for many reasons. She was afraid of failing, first and foremost. She worried, if she were to become a hero, that she wouldn't be able to save people. She'd let them down; unable to save them from an impending demise. She didn't want that.

But she was also afraid for her family, and herself. It was a dangerous occupation. You can die any day of the week, without warning. Then, her family can be in danger. What if a villain wanted revenge on her for some reason and decided to go after her family? She didn't think she would be able to live with that. And, if she died, she didn't think her parents could take it either.

She expressed her worries to both of her parents and, for what it's worth, they seemed to take it quite well. It surprised Yui that they had such a lack of reaction, more so from her father than her mother. They sort of just smiled at her and said they supported her no matter what she chose.

Then, they told her that worries were for naught. Basically, they brushed off her concern for them and basically told her that everything was fine. She was incredibly confused and a bit offended that they took it so lightly.

She had no idea why they did. Well, when she thought about it that night, she knew very little about her parents anyway. She had no clue what they did for their job, or why their hours were from early in the morning until fairly late at night; not to mention they literally left at the same time and got back home at the same time. Heck, she didn't even know the full extent of their quirks.

So, she confronted them about it a few days later when they got home. She had waited because she was unsure of whether or not they'd react negatively to her prying. She, quite bluntly, told them to quit their secrecy and tell her what was really going on with them.

They seemed a bit reluctant for the first few seconds, but silently agreed to tell her. Apparently, Yui's parents were pretty well known heroes, Molecool (her father) and Rule (her mother). Apparently her mother convinced him that Molecool was a good hero name, and to that Yui shook her head dissappintedly.

Her father's quirk: Molecular Change, was actually quite weak at the base. It allowed him to change the form of the molecules he directly had contact with, and when he released contact the time limit of control would only be around fifteen seconds. There was also a heavy drawback on the user's mind, so when they use it the user has increased mental exhaustion and headaches. In order to use it effectively, the user needed to have a prodigious imagination and a sturdy mental will.

He was incredibly acrobatic, allowing him to move quicker and allow him to touch more things in a smaller period of time. He also learnt how to effectively multitask, so he was able to move and simultaneously control the changed molecules. He also trained his mind to think more openly, in a sense, so he was able to change his molecules into different forms. Molecool was extremely effective in ambush and capture tactics, but surprisingly he wasn't an underground hero.

Her mother's quirk: Rule, allowed her to apply rules to objects. The quirk itself is actually quite simple; she's allowed to change the property of one object at a time. For example, she could make a steel beam bouncy and gelatin as hard as steel. However, she could not change the size or shape of said object (not able to extend or flatten it), just the properties it has (weight, density, etc.). She isn't able to change more than one object at any given time, and anytime she stops the change on the object it resets back to its original properties. Said effects of her quirk weren't limited to her touch, but more of her range. Her mother had to be within a certain range of the target object for the quirk to work.

She wasn't exactly the right hero to be going solo out on the field. That was why her mother and father ran a joint hero agency and were full-time partners. That made a lot of sense in Yui's eyes, since they worked so well together. Her mother would change objects in the area to better suit her father's acrobatic abilities so he could cover more area with his quirk. Yui also supposed she had gotten a mutation of the two of their quirks to make hers; Size, a quirk able to change any object she previously had contact with.

She asked them why they kept it a secret from her. The reason was actually understandable in Yui's eyes. They wanted her to have a normal life away from heroism, since that was what she had expressed years back. Not to mention the fact that it could be a distraction for her in school, or if people at the school found out it could affect her social life. The last thing any of them wanted was for Yui to have friends based on some kind of status.

They ended up telling Yui a plethora of stories from when they were young and during their hero careers.

Yui found herself drawn into each story they told, fascinated by it. Of course, they spared some of the darker and more mature details of the job and made the stories sound more humorous than they perhaps were in reality; however Yui still found them interesting. For once, she found herself actually interested in heroism.

It was hard to explain why she suddenly found herself in the majority of people wanting to be a hero, but she knew that it had something to do with her parents and their motivations. She wanted to help people and being a hero was one of the only, if not the only, thing she was interested in doing. She felt like being a hero could help more people, so, despite her own concerns, she'd pursue the path. Despite the fact that she wouldn't stand out at all, she would continue to be a hero. If people had a problem with it then it was too bad, because she was going to be a hero.

After the talk with her parents, she went to bed with a newfound determination to fulfill her new goal. The morning, when she looked in the mirror, she realized what she needed to do. Step one: get into shape! She was a tad chubby and out of shape, which was probably why her physical education was so bad. She hadn't necessarily exercised before so that was probably why, but still, she needed to get in shape.

So from that day and continuing for years to come she made a habit of running when she got home from school. Yui started out small with a few laps around the block. About a month after she started, when she started to become less exhausted from just running a few laps around the block, she started to increase the distance. She extended the run to a few laps around two blocks. Over time she gradually increased the run's intensity until she reached the second year of junior, in which she started to consistently run about a mile a day. After school, every day, she would take an incredibly long route back home which she calculated to be around a mile.

At some point around her first year of junior high, her parents decided that, if she were to become a hero, she could use some muscle on her. Yui agreed, taking into account that a lot of situations could require combat or heavy lifting. Having some muscle on her would benefit her in the long run.

So, on the weekends, which were her parent's day off and the two days she didn't run, they trained. They went to a gym as a family on most weekends, mainly so she could get the muscle she needed. On others, they would sometimes practice some basic combat training. Yui was surprised because, even though he didn't look like it, her father was incredibly muscular. Yui wondered how in the world he was still as timid and shy as he was.

That was basically her routine: run after school, then study, and if she had time leisure activities. Then, on the weekends, she worked out with her family and practiced combat. The weekends were more free for her though, so when she had the time she sometimes went out on a stroll, relaxed somewhere, read a book, or did something productive. She kept that up constantly. Eventually though, parents thought she had learnt enough basic combat and ended that training, but she still went to the gym and worked out when she could.

At some point during her second year of junior high, there was an incident involving someone her age. Apparently some kind of sludge villain went on some kind of rampage and took a student hostage, with All Might suddenly showing up to save him. Then, after he was saved, the boy blew up at the heroes that were trying to save him.

Yui had to admit that his reasons were sound. She didn't like the thought of heroes just standing there while she died by suffocation. She didn't want to be a hero like that, not in her life.

She set her sights on U.A., the most prestigious school in the county. The acceptance rate was so unbelievably low that it deterred many people from even attempting to get in. Did Yui believe she had a shot? Yeah, she did. Would she be the best? No, probably not, but she was okay with that. Her goal was to be the best hero she could be, not to become the best or sit at the top. Granted, if she did get in U.A. had a different weekly schedule, so she'd have to tweak her routine a bit, but that was no problem.

Her parents had asked her, multiple times at that, if she wanted them to file a recommendation form for her so she could essentially bypass the normal Entrance Exam test. She declined immediately, saying to them that it wouldn't be right to do so. She wanted to play fair, not use some sort of favoritism to get in. Her parents only smiled proudly at her. Besides, Yui believed that if she worked hard enough the exam would be no also be no problem for her.

What was a problem though was her parent's constant nagging about them finding her a new place to stay while she attended U.A.. She really didn't think it was necessary, but her parents just kept talking about how it would be beneficial for her to start living on her own. Every single time she argued against it they rebutted with something that sounded pretty convincing. Eventually, she gave up and let them get her a small apartment somewhere in Musutafu. She'd be able to move in somewhere around four months before the Entrance Exam, since it was apparently still being vacated and the current occupants needed some more time to pack up.

Everything in her life was relatively normal up to around five months before the Entrance Exam for U.A. began. It was a normal day for her, at first, with her going to school, doing whatever work she needed to do, then doing her mile run home.

However during her run home, there was an incident. One of the buildings she always ran by, a joint residential apartment of four, somehow caught on fire. She stopped her run to investigate the situation with some hope she could perhaps be of some help to the people who were saved.

When she got closer to the scene, it was a catastrophe. Backdraft was apparently called, but wasn't there yet. Death Arms was just outside, watching the fire spread more and more along with some other heroes that could be putting in work to save people.

Yui got tired of just standing around, and she wasn't going to let people die because heroes were too afraid to put their lives at risk. Yui dropped her things and instinctively jumped over the barrier the police had set up. Despite heroes and police attempting to hold her back, she was able to slip by.

It was a two story building with two apartments on each floor and the fire had already done a lot of damage to the place. Yui didn't waste time; she knew that some people were already out of the building. She heard some conversation from the heroes and police about how they were the people from the left side of the building that knew about the fire before the others. If only the left side of the building was cleared then it only left the right.

She ran to the bottom right apartment first. She used her quirk on the door, shrinking it down so she could get in. Once the door was shrunk down, Yui was immediately bombarded with a scolding heat as active, spreading flames pierced her vision.

Yui had to be extremely careful, since she obviously didn't want to get directly burned or scarred from the flames. She was probably going to have some kind of damage to her body from this though, but she didn't have time to think about it.

She scanned the apartment more as she quickly threaded through the burning apartment. The apartments were small, the front door led to what seemed like a small living area with a connected kitchen. Only one door was closed, and it was one of the two bedrooms. She assumed the resident was still inside of that room. She made her way over to hit, getting burnt a few times by the flames after she got a little too close; but it didn't stop her.

She shrunk the bedroom door so she could get in. Inside the room, in a corner was an elderly man that seemed to be incredibly panicked and afraid- Yui's heart went out to him. She would do everything in her power to get the man out. Luckily the fire didn't hit this particular room too badly yet, so she was able to move a bit more freely. She first checked on the man to see if he was alright and unhurt; despite his confusion he nodded to her question.

She needed to find a way out for him. There was no possible way that he would be able to get through the entire apartment with him. The only option left was to break down the wall with something big. The fire should've already decreased its durability a bit, making it weaker; she only needed to find something to throw at it, or find something heavy enough next to it so when it grew it just destroyed the wall.

There was a small dresser next to the wall leading to the outside. It was her best shot; so she went over to it, touched it and then enlarged it. The dresser enlarged as Yui stepped away, her fingertips pressed together to activate her quirk. The wall was destroyed when the dresser eventually enlarged and stretched into the wall. She quickly shrunk the dresser down enough to step over it, grabbed the man from the corner with his arm over her shoulders and exited through the new hole.

Once he was safely outside, she ushered him to the heroes. He left, but not before expressing his gratitude. Before the heroes could try to stop her again, she ran back in through the original entrance. She ran up the stairs and to the second floor apartments, choosing the right door again. She shrunk the front door to get inside, and right away she was once again blasted by the severe heat of the flames.

This time, however, she could hear faint cries from somewhere. The fires cracking and sizzling made it harder to hear, so it was faint, but it was enough. She maneuvered quickly and carefully through the apartment, careful to not burn herself too badly. The cries sounded like they were coming from the open bathroom; luckily the flames had yet to severely make it there.

She reached the open door and stumbled in, scanning the area around her. A mother and her young daughter were huddled up in their tub, scared and afraid as the fire spread closer. She supposed in their panic, they thought this was the best decision. The daughter was crying and the mother was just trying to comfort her. The mother did notice her, surprised a child rushed in to help them instead of heroes, but didn't say anything; Yui assumed the mother had noticed that she was in a deep concentration.

Yui knew the situation was similar to the one downstairs. The fire had spread more and it would inevitably completely block them off. Currently there was still a chance to make it to the front door, but it was too risky.

She had an idea, but it was also extremely risky. Though, she supposed she had no other option as of now so what the heck. She quickly ushered the mother and daughter out of the tub, which they did as fast as possible. Yui then quickly touched the tub before shrinking it, holding it in her hand. If she was correct, then the building's structural integrity was extremely low due to the fire, so if she were able to destroy the building up to the exit wall then they could have an easier time escaping. There were more variables, but that was the blunt explanation.

She reeled the hand holding the tub back, preparing for a throw. She then shot her hand forward-

"HAHAHA!"

She stopped her previous motion and quickly began confused. But, before she knew it, the roof ended up breaking apart and a tall figure stood before them. All Might was here, his fists on his hips and a large smile on his face.

"There is no need to fear! Why?" All Might did one of his signature poses, "BECAUSE I AM HERE!" He boomed.

He then quickly grabbed Yui, the mother, and the child before making a high leap out of the building. Yui had dropped the tub behind before they had taken off.

As All Might landed outside of the burning building, a lot of the heroes present were glaring at her. Some of the citizens looked at her in admiration and gratefulness. There were also a few that looked at her with contempt. She noticed all of them. Did she care though? No, not at all. She didn't regret her actions one bit, because acting when she did could've saved those people's lives. If people had a problem with it, then so be it, but she wasn't going to sit around and let people die because others were too afraid to act.

All Might let go of the mother and daughter, letting the paramedics that were on the scene take them. All Might stood there with his arm around her still as he spoke with a paramedic about the condition of the civilians. Yui looked to her side to see that Death Arms and another hero she didn't recognize were approaching. Yui attempted to leave, but All Might had pulled her back. The paramedic had since left and All Might was now looking down at her.

She couldn't necessarily read his expression, but he could read his eyes. They were unsure, but also confident in something. He needed some kind of reassurance about something. "You and I are going to have a talk. Is that alright?"

Yui could only nod. She was in too much shock to really respond to that. And so, before Death Arms could fully make it to her, All Might took her away. She didn't get to see his reaction to that.

They landed in some remote part of town. There were a few districts here and there but for the most part it was pretty vacant. She recognized the place, since she usually passed by on her normal run schedule. All Might passed her a bag; more specifically, her school bag. How he knew to pick it up or that it was hers was baffling to Yui.

All Might suddenly began to cough, sometimes with heavy amounts of blood. Steam began to come off of his body and before Yui could even think about trying to run over and assist him the smoke erupted into something much bigger, covering the whole area. Yui coughed once or twice before the smoke eventually cleared out.

Ahead of her, instead of the towering, muscular man known as All Might, was a frail, skinny man that looked like he hadn't eaten for weeks. She instinctively backed away in both fear and confusion, thinking that this was some sort of imposter.

He held up his hands, coughing a few times before he actually spoke, "It is alright. I am All Might, no need to fear."

The voice, Yui would admit, sounded similar to All Might. She hesitantly relaxed herself, but she wouldn't relinquish her entire guard to him just yet. The man sighed.

"I suppose I owe you an explanation, now that you've seen me like this." He lifted you his shirt, showing a nasty wound. Yui flinched. "Around five years ago, a villain did this to me. Destroyed a good potion of my stomach and organs. As of now I can only do hero work for around three hours a day."

Needless to say Yui was speechless. All Might, the most influential hero of all time, was on a time limit of about three hours. That was a big deal.

The hero sighed again, "I saw what you did back there." He started, looking at her intently. Yui's eyes widened a bit before returning to her normal expression. "I was out of time and yet your actions are what inspired me to act." He gave out a small chuckle before coughing, "I should practice what I preach, I guess."

Yui looked at the frail man that was All Might as she quickly put the pieces together from what he had said. He must have been on the scene, unable to act because of his time limit having run out beforehand. Then, after witnessing her run headfirst into the building, he was able to push himself past that limit for a short period of time so she could help. Yui was honored and shocked that she, of all people, inspired All Might.

"What's with that stare? It's like you're looking into my soul!" He joked, causing Yui to blush and look away. He chuckled and waved a hand dismissively. "Anyway, as for the real reason I wished to chat with you, Young …?"

He was asking for her name: "Kodai. Kodai Yui."

He gave off a light cough, "Well, Young Kodai, I wished to chat with you because of what you did." She inwardly panicked. She hoped he wasn't overly upset at her or anything. Yui knew that her expression twisted a bit, but All Might seemed to either ignore it or just didn't notice, "Top heroes have stories from when they were young," he started. "Typically, they are from their school days. Most of their stories have one thing in common. Tell me, Young Kodai, why did you do it? Why did you run into the building despite all of the risks?"

Yui looked at him oddly for a moment, truly thinking about the question he had given her. All Might was silent and let her formulate a response. It didn't take long, though, "It wasn't a voluntary response," Yui commented. She noticed All Might perk up a bit from that, but she continued anyway. "It was something my body did on its own. My legs… they just ran. I knew people were in danger, so I acted." It was the simplest response she could give. Truthfully she didn't even know much more than that.

It seemed to be enough to satisfy the hero though, as he boomed in laughter. "Yes!" He yelled into the sky, sort of startling her a bit. "That's exactly what I wanted to hear!" He pointed at her. "You, Young Kodai, have the aptitude to be a great hero!" He pointed at her. "As I said before, top heroes have one thing in common; and that is that their bodies moved before they had a chance to think. You too share that trait." He then spread his arms out wide, like he was about to give some kind of grand gesture. "I deem you are worthy to inherit my power, my Quirk, One for All!"

Yui had to take a step back on that one, and the face she made must have given something away because All Might started to laugh.

"That face… it's hilarious!" He laughed. He was able to calm himself down enough to refocus on the matter at hand. "Ahem- my apologies." He refocused on her, the serious mood returning to the conversation. "What I speak is true. My quick has been passed down like a sacred torch for generations. Now, I believe I am ready to pass it on." He pointed at her once again, "You are worthy to inherit this power, shown through your will and actions. I want you to be my successor."

Yui couldn't believe it. Not only did the number one hero have a quirk that was able to be passed from person to person, but he was also nominating her to be his successor. It was all a little too surreal to believe. Was this even real? Should she pinch herself?

He lowered the hand that had been previously pointed at her, "Ultimately, it is you who must decide. I will not force this path upon you if you do not wish it."

She had to respond, but she couldn't help but stutter and falter. "I… I'm honored, All Might. But, what makes you so sure I'm the right choice?" All Might raised an eyebrow. He had a feeling as to what she meant but he didn't question it just yet, letting her continue, "I can barely express myself. I have no social skills. How can I live up to you? How can I become a Symbol of Peace?"

Even though her voice was monotone, it carried the emotion across. All Might took it in and kept it warm before distributing it back out with this: "I'm not asking you to live up to me." Yui looked at him, confused. "Becoming my successor does not mean you need to become the Symbol of Peace, I know nobody would be able to reach that." He gave her a determined look, "But, you can become your own symbol. The Symbol of Hope, the Symbol of Inspiration, and more. You don't have to be set to a specific standard. I'm choosing you because you have the heart of a hero, not because you can live up to my name. If you're afraid of failing, then that's okay, all heroes fail at least once in their career. But, you pick yourself back up again and keep going." He smirked at her. "That's what you did back there, and I know you're capable of doing it in the future."

Yui was, again, taken aback by the speech. It certainly had a lot of power on it, and it was clear All Might has a lot of practice with that sort of thing. It helped ease a lot of her worries, but also helped her reach some kind of clarity. She didn't have to be like anyone else. She didn't have to be a hero like her mother, father, or All Might. She could be her own hero, her own symbol of light in the darkness to people who needed it. She made her decision.

She nodded at him, a determined stare looking upon the frail blonde. "I'll do it."

He was quiet for a moment, seemingly taking in the short and blunt confirmation. He boomed of laughter after about a minute, not even surprising the raven haired girl anymore. "That's what I like to hear. No more hesitation, great."

From there, All Might insisted that he take her to get her burns healed. She actually had no choice to but comply, for multiple reasons that didn't need to be listed. So, he escorted her somewhere with no words spoken. She couldn't deny that it wasn't an enjoyable walk, but it had felt a little awkward.

Eventually, they ended up at U.A., much to her initial shock. Why All Might had taken her to such a place, now of all times, was beyond her. He led her inside, all without words, and up to the nurse's office.

He knocked on the door. "Chiyo, I need your help."

The door opened and a small girl came into her view, poking her head out the door. "What is it this time?"

Eventually her eyes fell on Yui. At first she was surprised, for multiple reasons. One, Yui was covered in burn marks and somehow walking. Two, All Might was in his secret form next to her.

Yui, of course, recognized who this was. She learned about her in school, after all. Recovery Girl who possessed the Quirk Heal, was able to heal almost any injury using the person's stamina. She thought that was about right.

Recovery Girl quickly ushered them inside and made her lay on one of the beds. Yui did as she was told and Recovery Girl started to do her work, kissing her wounds and quickly healing them.

After she had finished, Yui attempted to get up but was hit by a wooden cane. Yui rubbed her head in pain as she turned to Recovery Girl, who had hit her, to see that she was glaring at her. "Take it easy. They'll be a little itchy and irritated for a little while. Take it easy going home too, as a matter of fact. No crazy movements or exercise for a day or two."

Yui could only dumbly nod as All Might snickered, before the glare fell on him as well which shut him up real quick. Yui figured that All Might must have been on the receiving end of this at one point too and was now getting amused because someone was in his shoes.

Recovery Girl dropped her glare after a few seconds and sighed. It confused Yui at first, but when she spoke it made a lot more sense. "I suppose she will be the one, Toshinori?"

Yui looked over to All Might, now dubbed Toshinori, as he nodded. "Yes, she is. I witnessed her spirit myself when she went into a burning building to save innocents while heroes stood about outside."

Recovery Girl glanced at her, muttering, "I hope I don't see you every week in here." She turned back to the blonde, "I suppose there is a little more to it then that, but if you believe that she is suitable enough for it then I will respect your decision."

After that, the conversation stopped for a while. All Might had officially introduced herself and Toshinori Yagi, requesting that when he be in that form at any given time that she refer to him as such. She, of course, agreed.

After about an hour she was cleared to leave. Recovery Girl asked if she needed a change of clothes, but Yui politely refused. Hers would last until she got back home.

Toshinori escorted her back outside before they had to part ways. He explained to her that he needed to plan out a few things regarding her training, which Yui understood since this was sort of sprung on the both of them within the hour and that she probably needed to do something to even get the quirk. Before he left though, he could stress enough how much of a secret this had to be. She couldn't tell anyone, not even her family. Yui took a hard hit there, but ultimately understood the reasons why and agreed to the terms. He had also asked about her Quirk: how it worked, her maximum and minimum usage, and more. She gave him the information and he bid her goodbye.

She continued to walk home from there, under Recovery Girl's order, taking an improvised route (refusing to take the train so she could get some walking exercise at the very least) back home- or well, soon-to-be-former home. Most of her stuff had been packed up and ready to go and from what her parents have been telling her, it's only a matter of time before she can move in.

This day wasn't what she was expecting either. Well, of course it wasn't. She, first off, rushed into a burning building to save innocents as heroes stood around and waited (which still irked her), then All Might shows up and gave her an offer that basically blew up her mind (even though her outward expression didn't show it).

A quirk that could be passed down. It still blew her mind. The fact that All Might has a quirk like that… no wonder why his quirk was such a well guarded secret to the public. She couldn't even tell her family about any of it either, which really hurt her on the inside since she could always tell them anything. Then, if things couldn't get any crazier, he offers it to her because he saw her worthy. Her, of all people, worthy of that kind of quirk. She was honored and scared at the same time.

As she walked on autopilot since… however long ago, she ended up walking directly into someone else, falling flat on her butt and accidentally slipping out a small "oof". She rubbed her head, since she felt a little dazed.

Suddenly, someone reached a hand out to her. She looked up to see a boy around her age, probably shorter than her, with broccoli green hair and eyes giving her the friendliest smile she'd ever seen, but it was a bit shaky and nervous.

He stuttered out, "S-Sorry about that, I-I wasn't watching where I was going."

Yui's mouth twitched just a little bit before returning back to her normal, neutral expression. It seemed that he also had some trouble with natural human interaction, albeit in a different kind of way. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy.

Yui eventually realized that she had been staring a bit. He'd probably think that she was weird now. She ended up grabbing his hand and he helped her up. She quickly balanced and adjusted herself before looking at him, shaking her head. "No. Don't apologize. I wasn't paying attention either." She knew, very well, what it was like to have their mind plagued with thoughts. She noticed his grocery bags behind him, so she went over to them, picked them up, and offered them to him. "You dropped these."

He simply nodded. Yui noticed how he was oddly staring at her, similarly to how she stared at him. So they were both weirdos then? He snapped out of his daze and ended up taking his groceries back. His expression morphed into one of mild concern as he asked: "Are you alright? You seem a bit…"

She could only assume he trailed off to avoid being rude. But, now that he had pointed it out, she did notice how she was a filthy, dirty mess. Despite her wounds being healed her hair was still messy and her clothes were torn, burnt, and ruined. No wonder why he was concerned.

She didn't want him getting too worried or involved in her mess, so she nodded. "I am fine. I only got caught up in something earlier." Her monotone voice and unchanging expression made it even more convincing, based on his bewildered expression.

His eyes still displayed a glint of concern, which she couldn't help but admire, but he accepted her word anyway. He didn't say anything on it, only nodding. She decided to be polite and give him a small smile, as well as a bow to show her thanks.

They left one another without another word. She would remember him though, since she had a feeling that she would see him again. She didn't know when or where, but she knew she eventually would.

She continued her walk home from there with no issue. The next day, she felt sore. Like extremely sore. Like, "I can't get out of bed sore". She regrettably called out of school that day but swore on her life she would go the next day.

About a week after that her parents helped her into her new apartment. It was actually quite roomy, and she felt it was a little much for one person. Still though, the place looked comfortable enough and it wouldn't affect her schedules or anything too much so she was fine with it.

About a week and a half later All Might, or Toshinori, had contacted her. He sent her a message, requesting her to meet him at 'Dagobah Municipal Beach' or something. It was actually quite close to her new apartment.

She met him like he asked. He was in his buff form, in the middle of… piles upon piles of garbage. She went down the stairs and stood next to him, waiting for him to say something.

In summary they stood there for around two whole agonizing minutes with All Might having a fist on his hands in a heroic pose. Yui, at long last, decided to break the silence. "Why did you suggest we meet here?"

She didn't think it was possible, but his smile grew even bigger as he laughed, "HAHAHA!" Yui figured he was either getting a kick out of this or just excited. He settled down and looked at her, pointing to her. "Your body is not yet ready to handle One for All. If I gave it to you now, your limbs would explode." She felt a little insulted. She worked hard to gain the muscle she had now. "You do possess a lot of muscle already, so this will mostly be an additional workout for you." It was like he read her mind. She understood though; she could still gain a little more. "I also apologize. We should have begun a lot sooner than this, but I had some trouble coming up with a suitable fitness plan for you and your Quirk."

Well, that did all make a lot of- wait, what the heck?! What did he say before all of that? Ignore what she looked like on the outside she was freaking out on the inside. Her limbs could explode?! She couldn't formulate a response to that, only: "Mm." Eventually, she was able to mentally calm down enough to actually say words. "We're here because I need to build a little more muscle to handle it." Just how powerful was this quirk anyway?

All Night nodded to her, "Correct, but that is not the only reason." He moved over to a large fridge, putting his hand on it and crushing it down flat. "After some internet research yesterday, I found out that this beach has been like this for many years. Apparently, the current drifts objects here a lot, and because of that, people take advantage to hide their illegal dumping." That was actually mildly concerning. "Heroes these days do a lot of showy stuff, but sometimes hero work is about helping the community."

Yui looked around at all of the trash that had been here for who knows how long. This was something she would love to do. Helping the community out was something she thought all heroes should do, so she'd do it too. "Mm." Were her words of undoubted acceptance.

"You're also allowed to use your Quirk," All Might told her. "This is meant to be a training exercise, so don't hold back. Test your Quirk, bring it to its limits and improve it. However, you still need to follow this plan I made for you and prioritize gaining muscle. I know this is a lot harder due to entrance exams starting in only a few months, but you can do it! Go beyond, plus ultra!"

She didn't even realize he said the U.A. catchphrase because he shoved a training schedule into her stomach. He looked at it and it actually wasn't too bad. She would be able to do this in three months.

All Might provided a pickup truck for her to put all of the trash in so he could take it away. They decided to start right then and there too.

She adopted a bit of a routine. Everyday, weekends included, she would run to the beach and begin her work. She would first practice her Quirk, seeing if she could improve any of its properties or discover new ones while at the same time moving a plethora of garbage by shrinking it down. Once she felt she had done that enough, she would move some of the heavier objects without her Quirk to help herself gain extra muscle. Then, once that day was done, she would run home. Sometimes All Might wasn't there with his truck, so she would have to sort of pile it all up at the top.

He had given her a section to work with; a pretty small one at that. But, why stop there when there was a beach that needed cleaning? She wouldn't stop there, oh no, she would clean the whole beach.

While she worked, she evolved her Quirk greatly. It surprised her at first, it really did, but she eventually practiced the changes and got used to them.

The first thing was rather easy. The speed for her to either grow or shrink an object had massively decreased. It only took a second or two to enlarge something to twice its size, the same to shrink to around half. She had gotten used to her Quirk's feeling and was able to, essentially, use her Quirk more fluently or smoothly. She liked to compare it to butter in some ways, not that it helped literally anyone else understand. All Might and her parents both had literally no idea what she meant by using butter as a reference.

The other thing was that she was able to evolve her Quirk enough to where she was able to use it with pure mental command instead of pressing her fingertips together. Her cousin, who was also applying to U.A., had a similar activation, but Yui had been able to evolve from that. She could still activate it like that if she wanted to though. While practicing the ability, she had gotten a severe migraine. She assumed it was from either overuse or that using pure mental command did a toll on her mental capabilities. The migraine was temporary and about ten minutes after it she stopped using the ability and it had gone away completely, so she would have to be more careful.

Through three months of hard work on her part, Yui was able to clean up the entire beach. All Might was surprised she went out of her way to go and do outside of the section he had given her, but he was ultimately proud. There were only two days until the Entrance Exam, and All Might has bestowed upon her the prize.

"Eat this!"

Yui could only stare at the hair he had just plucked off of his head and displayed to her as a morning snack. He couldn't be serious, could he?

Upon her questioning gaze he explained that One for All could only be transferred via digestion of DNA. Needless to say when he presented the alternatives she gagged and just swallowed the hair.

He told her that it would most likely take an hour or so to kick in completely, so he recommended going home to rest for awhile and take the next day off too in preparation for the exam.

Would she listen to that? Yes, actually, she would. She didn't want to risk anything just two days before the exam. Besides, it gave her time to study all of the material again before the written exam. Not to mention she wanted to greatly think about One for All and how it could be used, not to mention the risks.

The two days went by in a flash, and Yui ended up in front of U.A. once again after first doing so a few months ago. The entire place was swarming with people; so she figured it would be best to enter the building as soon as possible and find her testing room, since she never exactly prefered crowded places.

She found her exam room with little to no effort and soon enough, once everyone else filed in, took the actual exam. It was… too easy. She had been studying for this like I'd be hard but she felt like they were all just too many levels below her. She was the first person to finish in that room and only had to wait for everyone else to finish.

Eventually they all gathered in an auditorium in which Present Mic would give a presentation about the practical portion of the exam. About maybe halfway though (she didn't really know), some blue haired, stiff moving guy yelled out a question. It was incredibly distracting and Yui had a feeling Present Mic was literally about to talk about what he had asked.

Then, as if he couldn't get any worse, he turned around and started to yell at some other kid for grunting. Then, that other kid yelled back at him and started a shouting match. Yui recognized the other kid as the one involved in the sludge villain incident over a year back. Ever since her own incident regarding heroes that didn't do their job properly she'd taken his words to heart, in a sense.

Eventually, the blonde kid that was initially yelled at finished shouting back at the blue haired one. It seemed that the blonde cornered him, making him unable to respond to whatever he said. Yui didn't care much for the details of their little conversation, instead trying to refocus herself on Present Mic who was starting to talk about the practical again.

During the presentation, Yui suddenly widened her eyes in realization. Present Mic was literally explaining it as if it were Super Mario Bros. She wasn't exactly a 'gamer girl' or whatever kids in her old school called that, but when she was younger and before she started to exercise more frequently she actually played a lot of video games. She had a lot of useless video game knowledge in a locked section of her head that literally nobody else, other than her parents, knew about.

When all was said and done everyone was herded to separate buses to go to their individual testing zones. At this point Yui wondered where her cousin was and how she was doing. They both had goals to attend U.A., so she should be here, but perhaps they weren't in the same testing zones.

Yui's bus had stopped at Battle Center C, along with another bus. Everyone stepped out and waited by the door, as did she. She wanted to be ready to go as soon as the word was called. Being prepared to go in any situation as a hero would be vital.

They waited patiently at the door for a while. Yui's nerves, which had been extremely faint earlier due to the distractions she had to occupy her kind, started to come more to the surface as the tension grew. Her heart was beating at around a mile a minute and she could feel herself sweating.

In order to distract herself from her nerves, she decided to think about One for All and how she could use it. All Might had said that, if he gave it to her back then, her limbs would explode from the sheer power it possessed when she tried to use it. Logically, the power would still be too great now. So, if she used it now, it's likely she could break her limbs. The fact that she was unable to control the Quirk's power output was a problem, so she chose to not use the Quirk unless the circumstances absolutely called for it.

"GO!"

The doors swung open suddenly as that one simple word exploded out of the loudspeaker. Yui snapped out her thoughts immediately and wasted no time, sprinting into the Battle Center leaving everyone else who didn't realize what was happening in the dust.

Running in, she was met with a plethora of one-pointers and a two-pointer. She was able to slip under them fairly easily to touch them, then pressing her fingertips together to shrink them before she destroyed them. She could use her newfound ability, but she didn't want to risk getting a major migraine in the middle of the exam so she opted to use it either toward the end or in case of an emergency.

She decided to deviate from the main pathways into some remote sections. There were bound to be robots piled up in the desolate and back area of the Battle Center.

Sure enough, she was correct. There were a lot of them sitting in the back alleyways, just sort of camping out. Then, she found something interesting. There was one particular building that seemed to be infested with robots. Two guards on the outside, more on the inside, and almost a boss robot on the second floor.

Yui thought it necessary to raid the building. It was quite small and only had two stories but there were still a lot of robots within; plus, it was good practice for her.

She worked her way through the building, as stealthily as she could be. It was fairly tight bun the building, and it was wider than it looked on the outside, so she had to be careful to not alert any other robots since she could be easily ambushed.

Eventually, she successfully made it to the top of the building without alerting any of the guards. The boss robot seemed to be a special three-pointer, with, instead of missiles, extra armour and possessed more enhancements special to melee combat.

Funnily enough that all meant nothing when one touch can enable her to shrink it to the size of a baseball and then step on it.

After that she had left the building to find that two other examinees were being pressed up against a wall by a few robots, two-pointers and one-pointers specifically. At the rate she was running, she wouldn't make it in time and they could get injured since she was still too bad back.

There was some kind of fire in her at that moment. It was a large flame that radiated heat throughout her entire body. It was One for All, she was sure about that, but she couldn't risk using it on her entire body. She stopped running and focused on the fire, drawing it into her left (nondominant) arm, which was now covered in streaks of red and orange. She could feel the intense, raw power radiating from the arm, and she knew that if she took even one major movement it could possibly shatter her bones.

She once again focused on the flame. If she couldn't minimize the power output then she would improvise by limiting where that power was released. She steadily moved the heat from her arm to her index finger, pointing it at the row of robots ahead. She flicked the finger forward creating an intense wave of wind that sliced through the weaker joints of the robots, breaking them.

The two examinees looked to her in shock, expressing their thanks before running off in separate directions. Yui felt an intense pain on her finger; looking down she found it was swollen completely in red and blue, most likely broken. The pain was high but she could take it. She had trained intensely in more than one way to counter pain, so she could deal with this for the remainder of the exam. The only problem was that she could not use her fingertips for her Quirk anymore, so she had to use the mental route and risk a heavy migraine.

Instead of risking herself any further with injuries, she decided to just help out as many people as possible. Yui felt like she had gotten enough points to pass anyway- like, over 60 points maybe? She wasn't sure but she was able to farm a lot of them from the alleyways and the building she had infiltrated. She doubted there was a lot of time left to go robot hunting anyway.

It turned out she made the right decision. There were actually quite a few people that were having trouble with the robots, either injured or getting cornered. She did her best to help each of them by destroying their attackers or just helping them get to cover or safety. She had only needed to use One for All one more time, and that was once again a distance issue. She used her middle finger on her left hand that time too.

She had just finished helping someone when the Battle Center started to shake and rumble. She almost lost balance as she found herself in a large street in the center of the Battle Center. To say she was shocked at what she saw would be an understatement; there was a large robot, the zero-pointer, rolling its way toward her. The thing was several stories tall, making it incredibly huge. There were also people behind her fleeing from the robot's seemingly unstoppable advance.

She would have run too, but she prioritized the other examinees first. She knew she could save herself in most situations, but could they? She helped some people stand after they tripped and fell while still scanning the area around her. As she scanned, she suddenly heard painful groans coming from behind her, closer to where the robot was.

A girl with orange hair was falling behind, coming out of an adjacent alleyway. Yui noticed that she was limping, mostly likely because a lot of the buildings had collapsed when the zero-pointer was first released and thus some rubble probably hit her, especially if she was in a back alleyway like that.

Yui noticed that the girl was not going to make it to her in time and the robot had no plans on slowing down. She was too far to go up and touch it before it reached the girl, not to mention it'd take a bit to shrink something of that size anyway so she'd be crushed trying. There was only one other way.

Yui rushed forward, catching the attention of some of the other examinees behind her. She didn't pay any mind to it, her legs running before she could think properly. She reached a point where she stopped running and prepared herself for a giant leap, feeling the fire in her legs before jumping. She reeled her right (dominant) hand back, aiming for the robot's center.

When she moved her arm forward, performing a punching motion in the air, the wind pressure completely dented the face of the robot and flung it back. It began to topple and fall onto its back as Yui stared in shock at the amount of raw power that had been displayed.

That's when she started to fall. Her legs were broken, flopping around in the air, as was her arm and two fingers on the other. She internally panicked, reeling her left arm back in preparation to use the air pressure to cushion her fall. But she didn't need to; a giant hand caught her before she could even try or splat on the ground. The hand was soft and actually cushioned her fall really well.

The hand lowered her and set her onto the ground, shrinking in size so Yui instead laid on the concrete, looking into the sky in a daze. The orange haired girl from before waddled over to her so her head was in front of Yui's, blocking the sun. "Hey! Are you okay?!"

The girl's expression was full of worry and concern. Yui guessed that if anyone saw someone with three broken limbs staring expressionless into the sky they would be worried and scared as to whether that person was even alive.

Yui could only dumbly nod before the pain of her broken limbs became too much for her and passed out. But, before she blacked out completely, she heard someone walk up next to her, a wooden stick hitting the concrete. They muttered, "Toshinori, you found one almost too much like you…"

When Yui awoke she was in the nurse's office. Everything was a bit blurry and a bit dreamy, but there wasn't anything else that seemed wrong. Her limbs were fully healed and her body felt like it was almost as good as new. The only other thing that was wrong was that she felt like she could just fall asleep and stay that way for days.

She groggily got herself out of the bed, stumbling a bit before rightfully steadying herself. She felt dizzy at first, but after adjusting for a minute she felt a little more clear headed. She inspected herself and there didn't seem to be any long lasting marks, bruises, or scars. Recovery Girl must have done overtime on this one, considering the fact she still felt like she wanted to collapse and sleep.

Recovery Girl came in not even a minute later and yelled at her for rushing herself up. Yui insisted on leaving but Recovery Girl was stubborn and refused to let her go until she was rested enough. After Yui kept pestering her for what was around maybe ten minutes, nonstop, Recovery Girl eventually relented and simply told Yui to take it easy for the next few days, maybe a week, so her body can properly recover from the experience.

She had gone home that day a wreck, since she literally bobbed like a drunk the entire way home. Sometimes she would almost fall over and random people on the street would panic and try to catch her. Needless to say she took the fastest route home, which included the train. The train was actually quite hard to sit through since she wasn't moving at all and was actually quite relaxed, so she just wanted to sleep even more.

Yui had gotten safely though, or at least as safe as you can be when your state of mind is like that. She skipped the shower, quickly changed her clothes and messily flopped on her bed, crashing within the minute.

The next day she had woken up to find out that she slept for around fourteen hours. She must have really needed the rest. Her body was also incredibly sore, again. There were missed calls from her parents, as well as a few messages. From the texts they seemed to be wondering how she had done on the exam. She told them her estimated point score from what she had lazily counted while destroying robots and told them that she thought she did well.

The next two weeks went by slowly. Very, very slowly. She didn't bother training for a while since her body kept being sore for days, not to mention she thought she needed a break. All Might hadn't been responding to her messages at all, so that was a bit annoying, but other than that she was bored. Eventually, at around eight days since the exam, she started to run again, albeit a little bit and nowhere near a mile yet.

During that time though, she actually got back into video games like when she was younger. Present Mic's presentation must have sparked it in her to come back.

The letter from U.A. came in the mail at around the two week mark. Heck, maybe it was exactly two weeks. She wasn't exactly sure. She brought it to her room and opened it.

"I AM HERE! As a projection!"

It was All Might, he appeared as a projection. She was surprised, to say the least. Yui figured that this may have been the reason why he never got back to her.

She kept watching, with All Might greeting her familiarly and then having some sort of debate with someone offscreen. It was sort of humorous seeing his face after he found out how much more he had to do, but after that he started to talk about the exam again.

He complimented her for the amount of villain points she had gotten. Quite specifically, might she add. Not only did he compliment her logic for going down the seemingly abandoned alleyways, but he also praised her amazing stealth tactics against the robots in the building and how she risked herself to save the other examinees.

She ended up with a whooping 75 points. That was way higher than 60! She realized that she must have farmed more one-pointers and two-pointers than she had initially thought. There was also collateral damage and extra targets to consider when she used One for All and couldn't see what was behind some of the other robots. There could have also been some robots that secretly gave more points, like the modified boss three-pointer she found in the building.

Then, as if things couldn't get any crazier, All Might says there was another point system! What the heck! So the times she helped all of those people had been secretly adding to her score! There had been a lot of people she helped during the exam, so she could only wonder how many points she got.

The answer was 161 points. All Might explained that sacrificing herself to punch out the zero-pointer granted her 60 of those rescue points and the other incidents gave her points depending on severity and how she handled it. Even helping people up after they tripped gave her points!

Then All Might told her that not only did she get the highest amount of points by a landslide but she set an entirely new record.

Eventually, the message had ended after he officially welcomed her to her new hero academia.

Later that day All Might requested to meet her at the beach. She accepted, of course, since she actually had a few concerns about some things.

When she had gotten to the beach, it was dusk and the sun was beginning to set. All Might, in his skinny form, was looking out into the sunset. Yui walked down the stairs, over to him. "Toshinori," she called out.

He turned around, giving her a smile, "Ah, Kodai, well done on passing the exam. By a landslide, as well." Yui could only nod. She didn't really know what else to say to that, but she did have a few questions. Before she could ask though, Toshinori started to speak again, "Just so you are aware, I did not tell anyone that I've been helping you train or anything. Nobody knows that we know one another, so no favoritism was played."

That was, indeed, one of her concerns. She didn't want to think about All Might using his influence to get her points, but it seemed like that wasn't the case. She did have another fairly big concern though, "What about my Quirk- no, Quirks. I used them both during the exam."

Toshinori put a hand to his chin in thought, "That can definitely be a problem." Yui deadpanned at him, not that she didn't naturally do that anyway. "It would be the first of its kind, but we could alter your quirk registry so you have two Quirks. The only thing we would need is a different name for the Quirk, a basic description and a reason as to why it didn't make itself known when you were four."

Yui quite easily came up with what they needed, "We can label it as Super Power. It is simple but describes the Quirk well. For a description, we can simply say that it is an incredibly powerful strength enhancer. As for why it only appeared now, we can say that I did not have the required muscle to use it, as using it when I would have been four would have killed me. It was my body's safety against the Quirk to wait until I had the muscle mass required to use it."

Toshinori stared at her, bewildered at the fact she had come up with an excuse so quickly. He nodded all the same though, "That can all work. Give me some time to adjust your file, I know someone that can do it."

Yui expresses her thanks to him. She still had a mild concern about her parents, since they'd be the first to realize that the claim in the file was completely false. She could make an excuse about her great grandfather about how her father's side was able to change the molecules in their muscles into more of a strength enhancer, or something, but she would have to worry about that later.

After that it was a pretty simple conversation about what was to come. The first day was soon, and Yui would be ready for it.

She, for the third time, stood outside of the large high school known as U.A.. It was all still so surreal to her. It was almost like it was all a dream. It felt so weird, but at the same time it felt right.

She entered the building and began to search for her homeroom class. She had arrived fairly early as to be able to explore the building a bit, but she was already having trouble finding her class.

"Ah, it's you." She looked up to see the same orange haired girl that she saved during the entrance exam. "I never got to properly thank you for saving me during the exam."

She followed up that statement with a bow. Yui rapidly shook her head; she really didn't deserve to be praised this much. Her actions are the sort of things all heroes should do. "Don't thank me, it was nothing."

"Nothing? You punched a hold through the entire robot!" The girl yelled excitedly. Yui had to back away a bit from the sudden shout, and the girl realized that she was rude and recomposed herself. "Oh, sorry. Sometimes I get a little loud when I'm excited." She held out her hand for her to shake, "Kendo Itsuka."

Yui looked at the hand for a moment before shaking it, "Kodai Yui," she greeted. "You caught me, I should thank you."

They needed their handshake there, Kendo raising her hands into the air in a deniable fashion. "No-no, don't worry about it. No need to thank me." She then pulled out a sheet of paper, "Have you found classroom 1-A yet? I've been looking for it."

Yui shook her head, showing Kendo her paper too. "Same class."

"Ah," Was all Kendo said in reply. Yui, looking at Kendo's body for some reason, couldn't help but note that they were similarly fit and had similar amounts of muscle on their body. Yui figured that she must work out and exercise a lot. "Well, why not find it together then?"

Yui felt like she had no choice but to accept the offer. She didn't want to seem rude or mean by declining, so she just went with it.

As they walked, Kendo seemingly noticed that she had no social skills whatsoever and decided to try and make some conversation. It was really just the usual small talk, like 'how was your day?' and 'what do you think is gonna happen this year'. Yui didn't really know how to answer the second one, but she didn't like the weird feeling she had in her gut about it.

Eventually, they reached the classroom and had to part ways. Yui would've stuck around outside to see if her cousin had made it, but didn't want to risk getting into any trouble or interacting with anyone she didn't particularly like. Yui would just have to get her contact information later, was all.

She sat behind the same blonde haired kid that had been in the sludge incident and participated in the shouting match during Present Mic's presentation. She also noticed the blue haired kid was here too. She didn't want to interact with anyone right away though. She'd learn their names in time and perhaps will have figured out their personalities.

She zoned out a bit, looking out the window as more people filed in. She wasn't really interested in them at the moment. It wasn't like she would have any competition with them or anything of the sort. She'd have time to do it later anyway.

Eventually, someone that looked like a caterpillar or something slugged their way into the room and went up to the front podium. He was extremely quiet too, and if she hadn't had her experience with her own version of stealth then she probably would never have noticed.

The other people in the room never noticed though. When the guy in the front of the room shed the sleeping bag that made him look like a caterpillar, Yui swore he looked like a hobo, or maybe one of those crooks she would find in one of those games she played. She couldn't remember the name of it. She shook off the thought and put her attention on him as everyone else kept talking. She did notice that the blonde in front of her noticed him as well.

He must have gotten tired of waiting, because he eventually spoke after a few more seconds of chatter, "It seems that this class has a lot to learn about being heroes after all." Literally everyone shut up after that and focused on their teacher. "It took you way too long to quiet down. Those precious seconds of talking could have cost someone's life in the field. If you're here to socialize, then get out now. This is the hero course." He had a stern look in his eyes, along with a bloodshot and tired look. His voice almost sounded like hers too, she didn't know whether to be impressed, happy, or scared. "I'm your homeroom teacher, Shota Aizawa. Nice to meet you."

The class dramatically screamed in confusion and Yui had to use every fiber of her being not to cover her ears.

"This is sudden, but put on your uniforms and meet outside on the field in ten minutes."

They all did as they were told, going to the gender separated locker rooms to change. Yui did her best to change as fast as she could in order to avoid talking to anyone. She would worry about that later, first she just wanted to get through the first day without worrying about how much she embarrassed herself talking to others.

She was the first one out on the field, as a matter of fact, and everyone else began to file in after her. She estimated that they all showed up at around the seven minute mark.

Aizawa complimented them for being early to an unknown situation which Yui understood, more because of her parents than anything. Showing up early could save a life, sort of thing. Showing up late can kill a lot of people, especially in any disaster situation.

Aizawa then told everyone that they would be taking a Quirk assessment test. Yui had to, again, resist flinching due to the noise everyone made when they screamed, again.

Someone had asked Aizawa about orientation, in which he harshly told everyone that they didn't have time for leisure activities while in the hero course. He mentioned that this test was something they had all been doing since middle school and that they should have no issue with it, just having to use their Quirks this time.

Then, some poor soul said it would be fun. Aizawa then turned around and said that whoever got last place on the exam would be expelled. Yui understood why he was being like this. If you're in the hero course for fun or something along those lines you had no place here.

Someone then commented on how it was unfair. Yui half-glanced behind her and glared. She didn't know who had said it but it was ridiculous. She knew, majorly from her parents, that many hero-type situations were unfair. Life was unfair, in general. Aizawa ranted about the same sort of thing. The blonde, spiky haired kid seemed to understand too from the glare he was giving off. Yui figured he would know too since he was caught up in one of those unfair situations in the past.

Yui noticed Aizawa turn toward her, "Kodai, you finished at the top of the practical exam, right?" All eyes fell onto her now, as she looked at Aizawa and simply nodded. "In junior high, what was your best result for the softball throw?"

"Fifty-one meters, sir." She responded, her voice the same monotone it always was. She was unsure as to what Aizawa was going to make her do.

Aizawa tossed her a ball. "I know you have a particularly unique situation, so you may do as you please with any one of your quirks. Or both, if you want. Just don't leave that circle."

Yui did as instructed and went to the center of the circle. She knew the class was curious about what Aizawa had said, regarding her two Quirks, but she didn't really care at the moment.

She had to consider how to do this, so she used her physics knowledge to figure out what she was going to do. First, she would enlarge the ball, then she would use her non-dominant hand to throw using One for All, utilizing only her finger, so she could have her dominant hand for later on if needed.

Even though the smaller ball would be easier to throw normally, meaning it had a higher acceleration, that didn't really matter her. Using One for All at full power would completely get rid of that variable, meaning the heavier ball would launch the same way the lighter one would. Ultimately she would enlarge the ball due to air resistance, since the smaller ball would be affected a lot more by it than the larger one. By doubling the size and thus the mass it should go, maybe double the amount it would if she only used One for All on the normal sized ball.

It was time to test that, though. She first enlarged the ball with her Quirk, Size. Then, she put the left ball into her left hand, reeling it back. She let the fire spread throughout her body once again, channeling it into her arm then letting it flow solely into her index finger. She then let it rip, moving her arm and hand forward in a throwing motion while expelling all of One for All's power into the ball as it rolled into her finger. It launched far into the air, creating donuts in the clouds above and making a boom in the air.

Her finger hurt, badly, but it was bearable. She could make it through the rest of the assessment. Everyone seemed shocked at her display. Who wouldn't be after finding out someone in front of you had two completely different and unrelated Quirks?

The device in Aizawa's hand beeped, gathering the attention of everyone, letting them know that the ball had landed. Aizawa's expression remained unchanged through the ordeal as well, even as he showed the screen. Her score was an astounding 1,532.7 meters. Yui even surprised herself with that one.

Then, small popping sounds had gotten everyone's attention. The blonde, spiky haired kid was seething and glaring daggers at her while small pops came from his palm, progressively getting larger the more he seethed. Yui almost jumped back from the intimidation alone. He looked like he was ready to attack her. Luckily she was able to keep her composure.

He ended up claiming down a little bit, clenching his hands into fists so the pops would cease. He must have realized everyone was looking at him too. Aizawa ignored it, probably because it hadn't escalated and there were other things to do. He started to explain the assessment again.

When she got back to the other students, Kendo had come up to her and said congratulations, even complimenting her on how cool the Quirks were. Yui didn't care much for the compliments but did appreciate the thought, if that made any sense.

From there they all did the other assessment tests. Yui didn't feel like anything necessarily important happened, but the entire time the blonde kid, who she had learned was named Bakugo Katsuki, kept glaring at her. He would stare at her during the tests, and it would almost throw her off focus.

She dominated a lot of the tests, though. Thanks to her exceptional fitness and strength she was easily able to power through a lot of the exercises, Kendo as well. There was another test, Grip Strength, where Yui sacrificed another finger to break the assessment, but that was all she could really significantly note.

Yui noticed that Bakugo was seemingly trying to 1-Up her, but he wasn't exactly having much success. She felt uneasy inside. Did she do something wrong? She never had much of any social interaction, so she was extremely worried that she had committed some kind of wrong.

By the end of the assessment, she had gotten first place. She felt proud of herself, even though Bakugo constantly glared at her and made her feel incredibly insecure.

Aizawa, thankfully, ended up expelling Mineta Minoru, a very small grape-like kid. Yui was not blind; she noticed the many, many attempts from him to look down her shirt and the same went for the other girls. His reason for being a hero was to get noticed by girls as well, so Yui had no sympathy for him.

The funny thing was that almost the entire class was surprised when Mineta got expelled. Yui knew who this was, her parents had told her. They gave her a heads up about the 'infamous Eraserhead that expelled his entire class on the first day'. Bakugo seemed to be aware of it too.

Aizawa gave her a slip to go see Recovery Girl to fix her broken fingers before walking off to somewhere unknown. Yui had gone to see Recovery Girl after that while everyone had gone back to the classroom to get the curriculum. Recovery Girl, of course, whacked her a good few times on the head for injuring herself again.

The next day was when they would take all of their normal classes, along with basic hero training. The day had gone by fairly quick, at least for Yui. She soon found herself waiting for their basic hero training course teacher to arrive, along with the rest of her classmates.

"I AM…. WALKING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON."

Yui snorted. Yeah right, like that was normal. But All Might had told her that he would be teaching this class, so what else did she really expect?

He had taken them all out to Ground Beta for a Battle Trial of sorts. She didn't really know what it was all about, but she didn't know whether to look forward to it or cry on the inside.

They all put on their hero costumes. Hers was customized herself, with help from her parents here and there. The costume consisted of a simple red bodysuit with a white collar trim, a matching "V" pattern running over her chest and around her upper arms, which also includes a short white skirt with a red design at the front, dipping so it follows the one in her chest. She wore plain vambraces, as well as a hat which resembles the front of a baseball cap, colored red with white U-shaped lines around the sides, with a metal piece resembling a fin attached at the back of the strap around her head. There was a belt at her waist and straps around her shoulders, each with pockets containing various small objects for her to use with her Quirk, Size. There was also a small oval-shaped gemstone set between them on her chest as a little decoration, something her mother added at last minute.

She felt ready, in a sense. She already felt like a hero just by wearing the costume. She still needed to prove herself though- prove that she could be a hero people could rely on.

They all ended up drawing cards for a teammate, Yui pulling Kendo, surprisingly enough. Bakugo loudly groaned when he got the metal man as his partner, but Yui couldn't understand why.

Speaking of Bakugo and the metal man, who she just realized was Iida Tenya, they were going to be fighting them. Fun. She and Kendo would be the hero team that needed to infiltrate the building and secure a nuclear bomb, while the other two would okay the villains and defend the bomb from their attempts to stop it.

They had gone in ahead of them to plan and set up the bomb location while she and Kendo got a copy of the building's layout to study. While they were looking at the blueprints, Kendo looked over to her, smiling, "So, what's the plan?"

Yui looked up and over to her, curiously tilting her head to the side in confusion.

Kendo's smile never faltered, "I mean, I'm sure you've got a plan right? You seem like the smart, quiet type."

Yui… didn't know how to respond to that. She wasn wrong, but it was weird, was all. Yui thought for a moment, "Your Quirk allows you to enlarge your hands, right?" Kendo nodded. "Does that also increase strength and durability?" Another nod. "Then we work well with each other."

Now it was Kendo's turn to tilt her head to the side, "What do you mean? I get that I'm a heavy lifter but I can't necessarily just toss stuff at them… there's a lot of things that can go wrong if I do that."

Yui shook her head. "One of my Quirks, Size, allows me to manipulate the size of objects. I have some stored in my pockets." She pointed to the pockets she had that were filled with rocks, screws, and other things. "It depends on what they have planned, but we can use them to our advantage."

Yui pauses for a moment, looking back at the blueprints.

"Logically they're probably going to leave the bomb on the top floor. It's the best space to have it for them since the area is more open for Iida to run and Bakugo to maneuver in." Yui looked back up at Kendo. "Bakugo has been glaring at me since yesterday, so it's safe to say that he'll be fighting me. It's likely, that with his personality, he'll pin Iida on you."

Kendo put a hand to her chin, "That does pose a problem for me." She looked at Yui, "I think I get what you're saying. Since we'll be fighting separately you want to do a hidden pass-off with some items I can use to take him down. Am I right?"

Yui nodded, "From the way Bakugo is he will probably be too distracted in fighting me to realize what's going on." Yui then looked ahead into the building, suddenly saying, "This can all be ruined if Bakugo decides to suddenly charge me."

Kendo gaped at Yui in mild surprise for a moment, but she found a question to ask and recomposed herself, "Wait, what about your other Quirk? Why don't you use that?"

Yui looked back at her, "Can't control it. Too risky to use in the building at full power." Kendo's seemed to understand and let it go.

It started soon after that. They had decided to just run up to the top floor, since being stealthy didn't matter when there was only one entrance to the room and they were both looking right at it.

They got up there with little to no issue, finding their two opponents standing in front of the bomb waiting for them. Bakugo glared at Yui, which she immediately picked up, putting her attention into him. Kendo focused on Iida after he set his sights on her.

They essentially had a silent standoff from there, waiting for the other team to make the first move. It seemed that after a few moments Bakugo had gotten tired of the silent waiting, getting impatient and setting off pops in his palm. Iida and Kendo looked at him for a few seconds before looking back at one another. Yui tensed herself, preparing for his attack.

Suddenly Bakugo blasted off toward her, aiming straight for her face. Yui was prepared though, ducking her head to the right to quickly dodge. He ended up blasting the wall instead with a pretty large explosion, making it start to crack and crumble. Yui's heart rate increased at that. What if she were hit by that? Did Bakugo hate her that much? Why?

Yui continued to jump back in order to gain distance while Bakugo decided to blast Kendo off to the side, most likely to help set the battle field and to help his teammate. Bakugo quickly looked back at her though and charged forward once again, going for a right hook punch. She dodged it again, but he kept up his offensive by repeatedly keeping the punches going, making her dodge in response.

She had trouble finding an opening to counterattack. Bakugo was incredibly fast and it was likely that if she presented more of an opening to him by trying to attack she would be blasted to kingdom come. It didn't take her long to notice he was subtly pushing her back toward the wall, trying to corner her. She ended up getting a little too close to the wall for comfort, making Bakugo take advantage to let off an explosion aimed at her chest. She saw it coming and quickly ducked herself under it, and while she was in the position used her legs to sweep him off of his feet. He fell into the ground unexpectedly, barely catching himself with his hands.

Yui saw an opening and made a dash for the bomb. As she expected, Bakugo recovered quickly and began to pursue her, so she opened one of her pockets and threw some of the objects back at him. If all went according to plan, this would benefit Kendo. She began to enlarge them with her new ability while Bakugo quickly blasted them to the side with his explosions before they could reach and hit him. Good.

He quickly reached her and swung at her with his left hand; once again she saw it coming, ducking around it again before trying to punch him with her right first. He, however, moved his head back so her hand flew up in front of it, missing him. He then caught it with his left hand, holding it tightly and forcing it to her right. She then tried to punch in with her other fist, but he caught that one too and forced that hand to the other side. He was physically a little bit stronger than her and were now stuck in a hand-lock.

He inwardly flinched at the expression Bakugo was displaying. In a way, it made her feel depressed. He looked like he wanted to murder her. His glare was piercing and his teeth looked like they'd break on each other, not to mention it seemed like he was going out of his way to try and hurt her. What did she do wrong?

She was starting to get forced further down so Bakugou was towering over her. He was pushing her. Hard. "Why aren't you using your other quirk, Neutral Face?" He put down more force against her, "You can easily take me out with that."

She grit her teeth from the physical frustration, repositioning her right leg into a better supporting position under her in a second. Bakugo kept pushing, despite her resistance. "Is that why you hate me?" She was able to quickly spout under all of the stress. She was scared, she would admit. Bakugo scared her. But, she had to ask: "Because I have a second quirk?" She was barely able to talk, since doing so would require diverting her attention and thus her strength away from keeping Bakugo at bay. "Or, is it because of something else?"

He grunted in annoyance, his grip tightening on her fists as he began to forcibly bend them upward. Yui resisted the urge to scream out in pain. "I have my reasons," was all he had said to her in response before bringing his knee straight into her stomach. The wind got knocked out of her as she found it increasingly difficult to breathe. He was able to force her to the ground after that, allowing him to take fresh breaths of air. Luckily, he didn't want to beat her any further and was going to restrain her. But, before he could, a large rock slammed into him from the side and slammed him into the wall.

"HERO TEAM WINS!" Erupted on the loudspeakers. Yui figured Kendo had gotten the plan and was able to take out Iida and then use the remaining objects to take our Bakugo.

Kendo came up to her, putting her arm around her shoulders to help her walk. Yui sent her an appreciative glance while Kendo gave her a small, friendly yet worrying smile.

They regrouped back in the observation room to decide who was the MVP of the match and the like. Yui didn't care though. She was beaten, badly, and hurting. She didn't care that she was declared the MVP of the match. Being the best wasn't what being a hero was about anyway. She didn't even feel like paying attention to the other matches with how she felt. She only looked back at Bakugo once, and he noticed. She could only look away quickly before anything else was started.

The school day was officially over after that. Everyone went back to the classroom to pack up and get ready to leave, but Yui was contemplating things. Bakugo, to be more precise. She wanted to know why he hated her so much. She wanted to cry, almost. She had never experienced such… rage directed solely at her before.

It took her a moment to realize he had left the class early, and despite how stupid it may have been she had to confront him. She needed to know why.

"Bakugo!" She said, surprisingly altering her voice to something louder and more emotional.

He was almost out of the gate when she called out to him. He stopped walking and turned around to face her, seething. "What do you want?"

"Why do you hate me so much?" Her voice began to mix with more emotion as she said it, putting a hand over her heart since it started to beat incredibly quickly. "I can see it in your eyes everytime you look at me. What did I do, I want to remedy it."

Despite the truth of her statement, his expression remained unchanging. "Cry me a river, Neutral Face." He turned his back to her, showing absolutely no sympathy for her. "You can't remedy the existence of your two quirks." He started to walk forward again, through the gate. "People out there get bullied and pushed to suicide for having no quirk at all, when you sit here with two. And for that, I will always hate you. Nothing can change that."

With that he left, leaving Yui with only the words he said. She was confused, completely unsure as to what to do. She never felt like this before. She never had anyone interact with her like this. She shed a single tear, before wiping it away and going back in the building. She had a lot to think about.

\---

A/N: This took longer than I thought. It's hard to write Yui, that much I'll admit. I can't imagine how the next chapter is going to be.

As for why Yui is a mess with emotion, especially at the end, is because she has had no previous interaction like she had with Bakugo. She doesn't know what it means or how to deal with it, so she's scared and confused on the inside and that's causing her emotions to show a bit more.

I've been considering giving Yui the role similar to Spider-Man. She'll eventually get Black Whip in the story anyway, so why not implement some of Sero's tactics into it, develop the ability, and give her the Spider-Man role almost. This is just something you can compare to, I'm not actually going to make her a full on Spider-Man and make just her deal with everything.

I have made the decision to add the multiverse into the story. It will not happen for a long while though, but I can begin to start setting it up. I'm still iffy on Infinity Stones, so let me know if you guys want that.

Anyway, here is a list of possible villains I'm considering adding in the future. By this I mean that these villain characters will be implemented in some way, not all of them will be actual villains in this story. It'll be a little while before you see some of them, but these can be some of the ones you can possibly expect from me. They won't be limited to only Marvel or Spider-Man villains, so some are a bit varied.

I WANT TO BE ABUNDANTLY CLEAR THAT THERE WILL BE NO MAJOR ORIGINAL CHARACTERS IN THIS STORY. The only original characters I may add will be extremely minor with their roles, like a store clerk or something.

I should also note that they will not replace canon villains either. I'm not going to diminish the canon story like that. So, people like Tomura will still have a big role in the story. I may do things with others too, but I'm not going to say too much on that.

I am also not going to tell you how they may appear in the story. That's for you to find out when it actually happens. But, just know that there will be no original characters appearing in this story. Everything here will solely be canon characters.

Mysterio is not included for obvious reasons.

With that out of the way, here's the list:

-Scorpion

-Shocker

-Mysterio Two or Ultra Mysterio (still working on the name)

-Electro (for this one there are actually multiple things I can do for it. So I'm not fully sure yet on what I want to do.)

-Swarm (more technical based and not with living things)

-Prowler (not conformed but highly likely that he'll be morphed in-in some way shape or form)

-Rhino

-Chameleon

-Hydro-Man

-Molten-Man

-Dr. Octopus

-Vulture (existence pending. If all goes well then I have some nice plans for him. I could always use a different version of him too.)

-Ultron (this one is a bit iffy)

-Reverse-Flash (love this guy, but it's also really iffy and will have to be included under very special circumstances.)

-and more in the future (duh, I'm not going to tell you all of them.)

Hey, so, you're probably thinking: "But Author-san, how are you possibly going to implement so many villains without adding any original characters?"

Well, that's for me to know and for you to find out.

No spoilers. Don't worry I'm not going to go crazy and be like "oh cool is that Tokoyami you're the Reverse Flash now". I'm going to either alter characters into a new persona based on who they are or their quirk or do something else, which'll be something I reveal in the future.

I feel like messing with you guys a bit. I'll tell you guys what. If you leave a review and guess 2 out of the 4 characters right, meaning you know who they are, then I'll reward you. It'll be something big and not just a "congratulations". Think of it as me trying to get you guys more involved with the story.

You've already seen Scorpion, Mysterio Two, Prowler and Electro in some shape or form (meaning they had their name's dropped at some point in the story). Can you guess who they are?

I'll give you guys a bonus if you can guess Swarm too based on the hint I gave you in the list, even though you haven't seen him at all yet. This one will be a separate prize.

They can be anyone beside Izuku, Katsuki, and Yui. Remember that even though they are villains in their stories, in this one not all of them will be. This isn't confirmed, but as an example think whoever I make as Rhino will be a good guy, not bad (like I said that isn't confirmed so don't hold to that). Keep that in mind while guessing.

If you guess 2 out of the 4 right I'll tell you and let you have your prize. I'll tell you which ones are right too, since you earned it. If you didn't get 2 of the 4 right and did get one right, I'm not going to tell you. I'll also explain my reasoning as to why I'm picking out certain characters like that to the ones who answer correctly.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Like I said, the next chapter (and maybe one more after it depending if I fit everything into the next one or not) will be the last of the setup before we see more Mysterio action. We'll be seeing Mysterio in action again very, very soon, don't you worry.


	6. Up Till Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Up Till Now.

A/N: So, it has come to my attention that things need to be addressed. Quite a few things that you guys have mentioned in your reviews. I am going to take some time to clarify a few things here.

1) Eri - There are a lot of ways to safely protect her in the Midoriya abode. First of all, we know Izuku has the ability to hack U.A., which has one of the most sophisticated firewalls in the world thanks to Nezu, so it should be no problem to put in a fake record for her. I'm not going to go into the specifics on how they hide her, appearance wise, you'll find out in literally the next chapter what they did.

The heroes also don't know what exactly happened to her. They only found Overhaul dead, no evidence pointing to who committed the murder or took Eri. To them the most likely candidates are the League (Toga specifically because of her tendency to use knives) because they were there at the time as well. Nobody knows Mysterio was there, at all (well other than Overhaul and Chronostasis but they're dead so), and cannot even follow his trail out. He covered it up.

2) Mineta - He was expelled from the HERO COURSE! He was bumped down to general studies. You will actually see him again in this chapter.

3) Izuku's Villainy - He will prove himself to be the villain soon. I don't appreciate being told I was click-baiting when we haven't gotten to a part in the story where he can prove it. I've said multiple times that this is all set-up.

4) Filler - Yeah, I've gotten this said a few times. Trust me, I know how you feel, but it's necessary. I really want to write Mysterio too but I have to establish the other characters first. Hopefully this chapter will feel less like filler since you get the League here, and they will have bigger roles later on in the story. Also, you get to meet TWO of the next major players in Izuku's story. They won't have too prominent roles here, but you'll see them. I won't tell you who they are, but try to match their Quirks with two of the villains I mentioned on the list and see if you'll get it.

5) Repeating Events - That's why I'm combing POVs in this chapter. This will have both Kodai and Bakugo's POV featured in it. Trust me, I know it's a hassle, I have to write it :/

5) Kodai - She's a little different than her canon counterpart. In this she's a bit more of a strategist and will only continue to get better at it. Regarding her basic intelligence she is not as smart as someone like Bakugo or Kendo. This is subtly hinted at when Kodai had to repeatedly study for the written test and Bakugo didn't. On a side note I adjusted her ball throw part to better compliment physics.

6) Bakugo - As for why Bakugo thinks Izuku is dead: it is actually explained. First, he literally told him to do it if he wanted a quirk, full well knowing that the kid was a big dreamer and had always wanted a quirk. Second, who would care if a Quirkless kid committed suicide? Nobody would bat an eye, especially in Katsuki's experience. Thirdly, Bakugo is incredibly paranoid. After the sludge incident he was scarred and then became confused and regretful. He saw his life flash before his eyes and realized what he did, so in a way he's just scared and paranoid because he knows he tortured him his entire life. That's why when it's revealed that Kodai has two completely unrelated quirks, he gets mad because Midoriya was bullied for having none. It's a bit hypocritical but he feels like he's changed his view and won't stand for some bullshit like that now and you all know it's impossible to change his mind.

7) Edits - I will occasionally go through and edit parts of the story. They'll usually be small changes like spelling mistakes or description/dialogue adjustment, but nothing major like adding a whole new scene in. So, now if you see a mass string of updates sometimes you know why. Additionally the first chapter is now back to normal, with the future vision having been removed due to story changes. That will probably be the only mass edit I'll do without letting you all know about it first.

I don't think I missed anything, but if I did and realize it later I will add it into the start of the next chapter.

Before I say anything else, please, if you decide to skip this chapter based on what i say next at least read the Author's Note at the very end. I need your guy's input on something, if you wouldn't mind.

One last thing though pertaining to this chapter and canon events. I will not be doing a complete walkthrough of the canon events. So, for example, I am going to gloss over most of the Kamino Ward incident and all of the I-Island stuff. They aren't going to be important to the endgame plot, and will relatively be similar to canon so they are ultimately unnecessary to fully include. On the contrary, the entirety of the Sports Festival (minus some third event fights) will be included because it showcases the character's skills and some new relationships. The USJ is similar, but will not have the entirety of it included because there isn't much of a need for it. So, the USJ will likely be a short version. We'll see what happens.

So, things after the Sports Festival will likely be a bit... small, in some places. The main reason for it is because I don't really need to go through them. That's not what this story is about. This story is about Mysterio, but I need to show character development for our characters too so that's what I'm going to mainly be showing. Not to mention that you guys already know about the stuff the characters will do and discuss during those moments, so it's better to just do a rundown of the event in a summary rather than completely hash it out again.

Also, yeah, this chapter is the longest of them so far (like 25,000+ words or so). I wanted to just get everything caught up to Izuku's stuff now rather than waste another chapter on it. If you want to, you can skip this chapter. It's up to you though. Next one will be Mysterio again, yay!

Also, I changed the title for last chapter. I think some people were getting misled by it and plus I can use that title for later.

I will also be referring to them as Katsuki and Yui in this chapter, since we are following the both of them. There will also be some moments where the POV will switch to a 3rd party, or something similar.

By the way, Thirteen is a girl as it is confirmed, so that's Thirteen's gender in this story.

You will see repeats of the Izuku and Yui interactions in this chapter. However, they are a bit different, I recommend reading them and not skipping them.

I'm going to throw this in for fun too! Good luck figuring it out!

Current Sinister Six Lineup:

Izuku Midoriya (Mysterio)

Eri Midoriya (?)

? (?)

? (?)

? (?)

? (?)

Anyway, now we get to the canon storyline stuff. After the raid concludes we jump back to Izuku for the Cultural Festival. This chapter centers around both Yui and Katsuki, but it's more Yui than Katsuki, in fact it's mostly her for this whole thing since Katsuki doesn't really contribute much until later in the story. Anyway, if you get through it all leave a review if you want, also I'm going to be really proud of you.

Hope you enjoy, and sorry for any spelling errors you may find (I realized that when I copy it over from the docs page I write in some errors in the writing get created, so sorry).

\---

It was only day three at U.A. High and already was the class bracing for something bizarre after Aizawa entered the room. After the Quirk Assessment Test on the first day, then the Battle Trial the next, the class couldn't help but prepare themselves for what will bring their misery to the surface.

However when Aizawa simply stated that they would be picking a class representative, they all proceeded to exaggerate the normality in it. Katsuki scowled at the noise while Yui resisted the urge to flinch at it.

Mostly everyone wanted to do it, aside from Yui. Even Katsuki raised his hand midway up because he wanted to be in charge. They eventually decided to do an election, with whoever having the most votes winning. Yui begged to whoever was listening that she wouldn't receive the majority vote.

It seemed as though someone heard her plea, but decided to half-ass it and give her second. Yaoyorozu Momo had gotten the most votes, with her getting the second most, Kendo for third and then Katsuki for fourth. Everyone else had either voted for themselves or voted for one of top four.

Katsuki grumbled in disappointment and some anger, knowing that Neural Face had placed ahead of him. Yui, however shyly spoke up. "I forfeit my position as Vice President to Kendo."

Eyes fell onto her, mostly of surprise. Some of them hadn't even heard her speak before. Meanwhile Kendo looked honored. "Why, though?" Yui looked to who had spoken. Asui Tsuyu, the frog-like girl, had been the one to ask her. Asui continued, "You're one of the most capable people here. You were the one that came up with the strategy to use against Bakugo and Iida too. You seem plenty capable, ribbit."

Yui's expression didn't change, but she knew what she had to say. "I have no communication skills. The job does not suit me." She explained in the most blunt sense. "Kendo is academically smarter than me and has better social skills."

Nobody really decided to argue about it after that. They respected her decision; if she didn't want to do it then she didn't have to.

Lunch came around sooner than expected for any of them. Yui found a table in a far corner of the room to sit, attempting to disappear from everyone's sight and mind like usual. However, she had a visitor, "There you are, I lost you for a moment."

She actually got scared for a moment there, actually jumping a bit, making the person chuckle. Yui turned toward the person only to end up seeing a very familiar orange set of hair accompanied by a friendly smile.

Kendo helped herself to the seat across from Yui, much to Yui's slight displeasure. "I hope you don't mind if I sit here," Kendo started. "You're the only person I've really talked to so far, sooo.."

Yui eyed the girl nervously. Kendo just kept trying to get close to her. She didn't know why. To Yui, there didn't seem to be a real reason as to why Kendo would go out of her way to try and be her friend. She wasn't really worth it, in her eyes.

"Why?" Yui mumbled, but it was audible enough for Kendo to hear.

"What do you mean 'why'?" Kendo gave her a sly smile, "You're going to have to be more specific."

Yui grumbled in mild annoyance, but her expression didn't change much aside from it looking like she was giving Kendo a small pout. "Why are you trying so hard to get close to me?"

Kendo shrugged, "Simple, really. We both need friends." Yui looked at her- more like stared. Kendo eventually started to speak again, "Okay maybe I noticed that you looked a little lonely. But seriously, I want to be friends with you. I don't really understand why you want to be cut off from everyone." Kendo looked like she had finished talking, but then she remembered, "Oh, and thanks for giving me your position as Vice President by the way. Though I think you would've made a great Vice Pres it was ultimately your choice in the end."

Yui was a little surprised, to say the least. She never really expected anyone to want to actually be friends with her before. She didn't really know how to respond to that, but she was wondering, "You voted for me?"

Kendo cheerfully nodded, "Yup! You seemed like you could be a good leader so I thought I'd vote for you. I mean, you did carry the team during yesterday's Battle Trial."

It wasn't that Yui didn't appreciate the compliment, but she just didn't know how to feel about it. She had never had any interaction like this before. Were they friends? Should she ask? Would that be weird? "Are we friends?"

Kendo raised an eyebrow before shrugging, "I mean, I want us to be. But if you're not okay with that then I won't push you to be my friend. Even if it isn't me, you should probably still get some kind of friend, you look like you need one."

She wasn't wrong, Yui definitely needed a friend. Yui also noticed that Kendo was actually being genuine in what she was saying, meaning she actually wanted to be friends with her. It meant a lot, it really did, but Yui was so unsure as to what to do. "Let's be friends."

Kendo was a bit taken back by the blunt request, or more of a demand than anything, but she ended up chuckling in the end, "Sure! Glad to be your friend."

Then awkward silence invaded their area. Neither of them liked the invasion of such a vile enemy, so Yui decided to ask something, "What do friends do, exactly?"

Kendo looked at her for a full minute, thinking about something before actually responding, "I... uhm... friends hang out sometimes? They talk a lot... and, uh... friends get to make jokes and stuff."

"You've never had friends before either, have you."

Yui's immediate statement to what she said had left Kendo baffled and red in the face. She lowered her head, shamefully, "No..." Then, Kendo picked her head up and looked at Yui, still a little red. "Look it's not my fault! My dad is a retired pro and when he found out about my desire to be a hero he made me learn martial arts at his dojo. I think people at school were afraid of me after I beat up some bullies one time..."

"You take it a lot better than me. I have absolutely no social skills and I cannot even express myself properly." Yui, once again, responded immediately. She would've talked and tried to bond over the fact that both of them had parents that were/are pro heroes, but Yui didn't want to leak information that her parents perhaps didn't want to get out.

Kendo leaned back in her seat, "Still doesn't mean I can't be socially awkward at times. I still try though." Kendo suddenly smirked and crossed her arms, "By the way, I just made it my personal goal to help you overcome those personal blockers."

Yui tilted her head in mild confusion. "What?" It was all she could say, really. How could Kendo possibly help her express herself more?

Kendo waved a dismissive hand, "Don't think about it too much. Let's eat our food, yeah? We can talk a little more later!"

With that, the two ate in mostly silence. Only once or twice did Kendo make a comment about something to Yui, but that was all. Yui genuinely did enjoy Kendo's company though. Was this what it felt like to have friends?

On the other end of the cafeteria, however, a certain blonde spikey haired, cranky, explosion boy sat.

He sat alone in the middle of the cafeteria with a mild scowl on his face. He was sure people were afraid of him, so there was that, but he didn't really care what other people thought about him.

Katsuki, more often as of late because he had finally gotten into U.A., became lost in his regrets. He regretted not being able to apologize for everything he had done. He regretted not being the friend he should have been. Even after everything, Deku still looked up to him even though he shouldn't have. He offered Katsuki a helping hand when he probably needed it, and Katsuki's ego didn't appreciate that. He often wondered if Deku would be proud of him.

"Oh, it's you again!" A cheerful voice announced beside him. He looked up from his foot, which he had been intently staring at, to see a familiar round face with pink cheeks. She smiled at him, and he growled. It reminded him too much of Deku. She learned forward a bit, her expression becoming more of a worried one as her face came closer to his. It was a little too close for Katsuki's liking. "Are you alright? You seem a little space out."

Katsuki looked in the other direction, admittedly a bit flustered because of the girl's lack of knowledge about personal space. Never had a girl done that before with him and he really didn't know how to react. "I'm fine, go away." Was his simple attempt at getting her to leave.

It didn't work.

The girl only smiled at him again, perhaps it was bigger than before, but he couldn't see it, "Why don't I sit here with you? You seem a little lonely."

Katsuki grumbled in denial. However, it seemed she took his grumble as one of acceptance because she cheerfully announced 'thank you very much!' before sitting across from him.

He turned his head toward her and began to glare at her, "What do you want, Round Face?"

She pouted, "First of all, my name is Uraraka Ochako, not 'Round Face'. I would appreciate it if you called me by my name. But if we become friends, then maybe, maybe, I will let you call me that. What's your name, since I told you mine?"

Katsuki was shocked. Nobody had ever claimed their dominance over him like that before. It was clear she wasn't taking any of his bullshit and he actually respected her for that.

Katsuki snorted, "Whatever, Uraraka. Bakugo Katsuki."

She suddenly jumped up, "See! Was that so hard? You're getting there!"

Katsuki went back to his brooding face as they kind of just sat there in silence for a while. Katsuki would never admit it aloud, but the presence of someone that had a similar attitude to Deku was actually a little refreshing. It was almost like he was still here...

Katsuki once again couldn't help but think of how badly he had messed up.

It seemed that Uraraka noticed his downcast expression and heavy sigh, so she decided to speak up again, "You know, my cousin passed the entrance exam too."

Katsuki didn't really care about that, but anything to get his mind off of those depressing thoughts was good for him. "Really?"

Uraraka happily nodded, seemingly excited about getting Katsuki out of his little brood. "Yup!" Her expression morphed into one of curiosity, "I was actually looking for her before I came and sat here. I couldn't find her." She put her hand to her chin. "She usually likes to stay alone and stuff though so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised." She laughed a little awkwardly.

Katsuki thought that this cousin of hers might be depressed or something. It wasn't like he couldn't relate to it.

"She's in your class, too!" Uraraka noticed that his expression had started to change and suddenly started to talk about something again. "She's got black hair, her hair is a little like mine, and... uh... I don't remember her Quirk, but she's usually quiet."

Uraraka flinched when Katsuki slammed his fist on the top of the table. He knew exactly who she was talking about and did not want to think about her; just doing that pissed him off.

"Are you alright?!" Uraraka worriedly asked, "Was it something I said? If so I'm so sorry!" She got up and bowed in an apology.

Katsuki looked at her bewildered. This was too familiar to him and he didn't like it. It was too much like what happened with Deku. He wouldn't be like he was then. Katsuki let out a 'tch' and turned his head to the side, "It wasn't you, don't apologize. I just thought of something that pissed me off."

She looked up from her bow, "Really?" When he nodded, she stood back up straight and acted like she was wiping sweat from her forehead. She sat back down at the table, looking at him curiously. "Can I ask you something?"

He gave her a side glance, "You can ask but whether I'll answer depends on the question." His voice had become rather tame, with no hint of anger or any other emotion. Really, it was a normal tone for a normal person.

"Well, since I saw you at the gates before the Exam that day, I've been wondering," Katsuki turned his face to look at her fully, "Why do you want to be a hero? I saw the news broadcast after the Slime Villain thing and heard what you said. My reason seems kind of petty compared to that."

Katsuki couldn't help but freeze at the question. Despite Uraraka's innocence in asking it, the topic itself still brought back some bitter thoughts.

"I'm sorry, you don't have to answer if it's a sensitive subject." She told him after most likely noticing his face become more downcast.

"I..." Katsuki started, surprising Uraraka a little bit. She honestly didn't think she'd get him to talk. "I've made mistakes. A lot of them." He looked at his hands, "I still have regrets. But, I want to make things better." It was vague, but still true. Katsuki looked at her, his eyes narrowing a bit at the next memory, "What I said that day has a lot to do with it as well. They all sat there that day watching me die. I was lucky. Lucky. That doesn't sit right with me. I want to be an example of what every hero should be."

Uraraka was amazed, to say the least. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was open a tad. Katsuki snorted at how ridiculous it looked. When he did, she seemed to snap out of her little trance and actually respond to him, "That's so cool! I can see you becoming a really good hero! My reason is a bit petty, like I said..."

Katsuki looked at her, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms. "Try me. I've heard worse reasons, like just two days ago a little midget wanted to be a hero to get in bed with some girls."

Katsuki was amused when she shivered in place. "Yeah, no, not like that. I want to be a hero for money," Katsuki raised an eyebrow, because clearly there was more. "I always wanted to help my parents since I was young. They never really let me. This is the best I can do to help them."

Katsuki shrugged, "That's not a bad reason. You want to help your parents, and I'm sure other people too, right?" She nodded, "Then what are you so worried about?"

"Yo, is there a seat open over here?" A new voice interjected. The two sitting at the table already turned toward it, being greeted with a friendly smile full of sharp teeth and hair that could kill.

Uraraka smiled at him, "Nope! You're okay to sit here!" She gave him a thumbs up. Katsuki glared at her, but she either didn't notice or didn't care because she didn't even bother to acknowledge it.

Shitty Hair sat at the table as well, next to Uraraka, "Thanks! By the way, I heard your reasons for being a hero! I have to say, you're both so manly!"

Uraraka became flustered and thanked him over her embarrassment, but Katsuki chose to ignore the compliment. The last thing he wanted was for his ego to resurface.

"I'm Kirishima Eijiro, nice to meet you!" He was incredibly loud, and Katsuki didn't really like it.

Shitty Hair and Uraraka shook hands, "Uraraka Ochako," she smiled at him, then gestures over to Katsuki, "he's Bakugo Katsuki."

Katsuki grunted, not wanting to deal with him right now.

Uraraka jumped up and slammed her hands into the table, "Don't be like that! He's being nice, you can at least say 'hi'!" She sat back down, pouted, crossed her arms and promptly looked away to show she was upset.

Katsuki grunted again, turning to the newcomer. "Hi."

Shitty Hair laughed, genuinely amused. "Well, nice to meet you." He rubbed a hand behind his head awkwardly.

Uraraka seemed satisfied, or at the very least happy he said something, "See, was that so-"

Then, the U.A. alarm went off.

Panic ensured the cafeteria out of fear of a villain entering the school. People were getting trampled, pushed aside and ultimately left behind as every student tried to flee.

The situation was resolved rather fast, with Kendo taking the mantle of announcing to the crowd that it was only the press that had gotten past the gate. Everyone had seen it for themselves by looking out the window and began to recuperate themselves.

Needless to say Katsuki and Yui both were disappointed by the way everyone acted. U.A. students shouldn't act like that, in their opinion.

The day had proceeded as normal after that, or at least as normal as it can get at U.A.. For the students, the incident was merely swept under the rug, but some people thanked Kendo for her ability to think on her feet which she really appreciated.

Aizawa announced to the class that they would be going on a field trip for some kind of rescue training exercise. They were all given the option as to whether or not they wanted to wear their hero costumes, not that the choice mattered because they all decided to wear them anyway.

The place they were heading to was somewhere off-campus, so they would take a bus to get there. Aizawa mentioned something about it being a bit of a long ride as well.

Katsuki and Yui had relatively the same opinion on the hero training. It was absolutely necessary to being the type of hero they wanted to become. Katsuki, especially, knew that he would be taking this training completely seriously. There were multiple reasons as to why, but one major reason was because he didn't want anything like what happened at the Sludge Incident to happen on his watch.

They all filed into the bus and even with Iida's attempt to do it in an orderly fashion the design of the bus proved his efforts to be fruitless. Then began the ride off to... wherever Aizawa was taking them.

Everyone's seating was a bit unorganized, so Yui was sitting next to Asui and Kirishima with Katsuki further in the back in a window seat sitting next to Invisi-bitch. He kept forgetting about her.

Next to Yui, the frog girl Asui spoke, "I usually say what's on my mind." She turned to Yui, who was next to her, "Your second Quirk is a lot like All Might's."

Yui looked down to her, her expression always unchanging. She was a bit panicked on the inside, though she had a way to avoid any suspicion, "Merely a coincidence. We both just seem to have strength enhancer-type Quirks and they work in different ways."

Kirishima, who was next to Asui, spoke next. "That's true. All Might doesn't hurt himself when he uses his either."

Then they talked about the flashiness of their individual Quirks, as well as popularity and strength among everyone there. Yui didn't care much about the second part of the conversation.

Katsuki, however, perked up at Asui's observation. Her second Quirk was a lot like All Might's. He would need to investigate this more in depth at a later date.

They arrived at their destination not too long after that. Apparently the place was called the USJ. It is not to be confused with Universal Studios Japan. The place was actually called the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, meant to educate hero course students about rescue training.

There to assist in teaching the lesson was Space Hero: Thirteen. Yui knew that her cousin would have loved to be there, just because of Thirteen. Apparently, All Might was supposed to be there as well, but Thirteen has held up three fingers to Aizawa to tell him he had gone over his limit. Yui quickly picked it up, Katsuki did too but he couldn't investigate now.

Thirteen had gone on a pretty big rant about how dangerous some Quirks can be. Thirteen used their Quirk as an example, since Black Hole can kill easily. Yui and Katsuki both were paying attention to the rant, since both of them had Quirks that could easily do the same.

Thirteen finished the speech a few moments after and started to lead them all into the building. Just as they were about to enter, the lights around the building shut off and water in the fountain in the middle of the room began to flicker on and off.

A black swirl then appeared, then in a mere moment grew into a larger mass. From inside, a hand made its way out. Then someone stepped out, followed by more and more people until what seemed like was an entire army stepped through.

The class was confused, thinking that it was something like the entrance exam. Aizawa yelled at them not to move, ordering Thirteen to protect them.

It dawned on them all what was happening: they were under attack.

Aizawa put on his goggles and jumped into a full frontal battle against the villains in the middle. Eraser Head was never a one trick pony, and he made that abundantly clear before he jumped into battle.

The sensors around the building were down and their phones were unable to get a signal. Todoroki had explained that they were fools but certainly not dumb. They had a goal in mind by coming, and had the operation carefully planned out to accomplish that goal. It was clear that they had someone with an electric-based Quirk interfering with the signal. A lot of the students were downright worried, or afraid.

All of the students made a beeline for the exit once Eraser Head jumped into action. They were almost there when the purple mist that had transported the villains into the building suddenly appeared in their way.

"My apologies, but I won't let you leave."

The mist formed into a larger mass again, with glowing yellow eyes staring down at them. Some of the students began to cower in fear at the mere intimidating look.

"We are the League of Villains, nice to meet you." The villain began speaking, very gentlemanly-like. Katsuki prepared himself for a fight while Yui stood a bit defensively in front of some of the weaker or more frightened classmates, two of which included a girl with a mushroom hat and a girl with white hair. "It may be a bit presumptuous of us but we have invited ourselves into U.A. High School, the notorious home of the heroes, in order to have All Might, the Symbol of Peace, take his last breath."

Almost all of the students felt their heart rate increase substantially. They were there to kill All Might and were incredibly confident in accomplishing that goal. Yui was frightened to her core, but stood strong in front of her classmates. Though she may not act like it, or may not want to talk to them, she still cared for everyone there.

Katsuki glared at the villain in front of him with murderous intent. They were there to kill All Might, arguably the strongest person in the world and the number one hero. He didn't know whether to give them props for setting a high standard or berate them for being absolute morons. As much as he wanted to just spring himself at the must villain, he knew it wasn't a good idea.

"I believe All Might should have been here. Has there been some kind of change?" The mist villain seemed genuinely curious as to where the number one hero was. Most likely to kill him, but still. "Well, that is neither here nor there. This is the part I am required to play."

He began to spread himself out, widening the mist around them. Katsuki noticed Thirteen pop a finger off in preparation of using Black Hole, so when he saw Shitty Hair about to rush the villain he had to hold him back.

Thirteen aimed her finger at the mist villain and activated her Quirk. The villain started to get sucked into it, interrupting his previous action. While the villain was getting sucked in, a metal brace around his neck became exposed for a split second. A split second was all Yui needed in order to see it.

The mist villain had commended the Quirk itself, noting it to be astounding in its own right. However, he pointed out that Thirteen's own combat experience was little to none, since she mainly focused on rescue.

The more observant student's picked up on it immediately and yelled at Thirteen to stop using her Quirk. Thirteen did so and just in time, as the mist villain has made a portal in front of him and behind Thirteen so Black Hole would backfire. Thirteen quickly thanked the students for possibly saving her life before quickly refocusing back on the villain.

Yui quickly spoke up, "There is a metal brace around where his neck should be. Possibly a weakness!"

People noticed the shakiness in her voice, surprising them a bit since they never knew anything besides how monotone she can be. However, what she said didn't go unheard. Everyone there registered what she said and prepared themselves mentally and physically to take him down. They all expected a hell of a fight.

What they weren't expecting, though, was the mist villain to suddenly get pinned to the ground under some kind of telekinetic force. The ghost girl that Yui had been previously standing in front of stepped forward, her hands motioning down.

Yanagi Reiko; Quirk: Poltergeist. She is able to telekinetically control objects with the weight limit being around the weight of an average person.

Everyone stood there in mild shock while Yanagi kept the villain down, the brace around his neck exposing itself more visibly. The villain grunted, "You have a telekinesis Quirk. This is quite the unfortunate scenario for me, isn't it... sensei will be quite disappointed in me."

"They're attacking without any knowledge of our Quirks." Katsuki spoke up, walking closer to the villain. "You seem pretty confident that you can kill All Might." Katsuki knelt next to the villain, putting his hand over the brace. "If you talk, I may be inclined not to blow this thing here to bits." He used his other hand to make pops of explosions in a show of dominance. "What's your plan?"

The villain glared at Kastuki as Thirteen and some of the other students surrounded him. "I will not talk, do your worst."

"I know how they're going to do it." People looked to the person who had spoken. The girl who looked like a rocker with headphone jacks hanging from her ears had spoken up from the end up the stairs. She turned toward everyone, "My Quirk, Earphone Jack, does more than just what's on the outside. It also enhances my hearing, so in actuality I'm very sensitive to sound." She looked out toward the middle of the USJ, where a big muscly monster stood next to a guy covered in hands. "The one covered in all of the hands is the leader. He's been mumbling to himself about sensei and about All Might. They plan to use the monster thing next to him against All Might."

"Then we have to get reinforcements," Thirteen stated. She looked toward Iida, "You're the fastest one here, correct?" A nod. "Good," she turned toward everyone, "you guys need to forcibly open the doors and get him out of here so he can run to the school and get help."

Iida looked perplexed, rapidly shaking his head. "I cannot do that! It is my duty to stay here and-"

"Just do it Four-Eyes!" Katsuki yelled at him, getting into his face. "If you don't go get reinforcements then we might just be fucked!"

"As much as I dislike the way he worded that, he's right," Kendo added in. "You getting other heroes for help is optimal here."

Iida clenched his fists moving his head to the side and turning toward the doors. "Fine, but I don't like it!" He made a dash toward the door to pry it open, along with a few other students that included Asui, Shoji, Aoyam, Kirishima, and a few more.

"Thirteen-sensei," Kaminari started to speak, "please let us fight!" Everyone turned to him, a few already to go and a lot more hesitant. "Listen, everyone, Aizawa-sensei probably can't hold out that much longer. He needs our help!"

Yui nodded, "This is true," eyes were on her now. "If what Jiro said is true then there's a chance the monster will be sent on Aizawa-sensei." She looked at Thirteen, "You going down there alone will not help either, as you do not have a lot of combat experience and are actually quite vulnerable. They don't know our Quirks, so we have an advantage in the field."

Some of the others voiced their opinions, mostly in agreement. "Yeah, let us be your guards!" Kendo stated. "If we guard you from attacks you can get close enough to use your Quirk on the monster!"

"It's suffering..." the girl with vine hair stated, looking at it from afar. "That is not a natural mutation Quirk, something happened to that... thing to make it like that. It needs to be saved."

"And by saved you mean put down, right?" Katsuki crossed his arms, also looking out at the monster. "I agree. If that thing is as dangerous as they say then what choice do we have anyway."

Thirteen looked at the students, unsure as to what to do. They had a point, all of them did. Aizawa would get overrun sooner or later, and if not then either the leader or monster would attack him. The thing was meant to kill All Might and from appearance alone Thirteen could tell that it wasn't exactly human anymore. They couldn't just stay out either, since Aizawa was in danger and after he was taken down they'd just come to them next and reinforcements may arrive too late. The best shot they had was to have her use Black Hole on it to quickly put it down.

"Very well," Thirteen addressed the students, surprising them. "We will fight. Get me close enough to the monster and I'll get it."

"All right!" Kirishima exclaimed, running back. "Sounds like a plan! Iida is out of the building getting reinforcements as well."

Thirteen nodded, "Good, I need some of you to stay back and help Yanagi guard the villain, everyone else help me get close!"

""RIGHT!"" The class shouted in unison before separating to do their assigned tasks. A plethora of students decided to stay behind to guard the mist villain including Aoyama, Shoji, Asui, Hagakure, Kaminari, Jiro, Sero and of course Yanagi.

Everyone else decided to be the vanguard, including Yui, Katsuki, Kendo, Kirishima, Tsunotori, Komori, Tokoyami, Yaoyorozu, Todoroki and Shiozaki. Thirteen was in the middle, surrounded by a semi-circle of the students as they went down the stairs and eventually onto the main area.

They made their way through the horde of villains. Some that were already knocked down by Eraser Head had recovered and began attacking the group of students. Some villains even started coming out of the various zones in the USJ to attack them. Their efforts were pointless as the students quickly picked off every attacking villain as they steadily worked their way up to where Aizawa currently was.

There were a few close calls where a villain somehow was able to get through and almost hit Thirteen, but they were quickly taken care of. The ones with Quirks capable of range combat were sometimes the most helpful, those of which included almost everyone there. They were able to pick off villains before they were able to get close.

Yui was able to throw the various objects at the villains before enlarging them to knock them away. Tsunotori was able to shoot her horns like a cannon, which efficiently immobilized a lot of them. Shiozaki used her vines to protect them all from ranged attacks, but also to hit multiple people from incredibly far away. Kendo too was helpful at swatting away villains that got close. Todoroki was especially helpful with this task as well, since his ice could easily reach villains nearby and was incredibly versatile.

They eventually made it to Aizawa, who had just engaged the leader covered with hands. Aizawa went for an elbow jab, but it was caught by the villain before it could make contact.

"It's really hard to see because you keep moving around, but there's an instant where your hair falls." His voice was creepy and sent shivers down some of the kid's spines. "That's when you've finished an action." Aizawa's arm started to crumble under the villain's touch, "and the space in between those instances has gotten shorter and shorter. Don't push yourself, Eraser Head."

Aizawa quickly punched the villain off of him, making him fall into the ground. Aizawa then jumped away at a quick speed to gain distance between them. His arm hung limply at his side as he stood back. Villains were about to attack him again, but Katsuki and a few others jumped forward to intercept them.

Aizawa looked confused, before turning to see Thirteen with the students. "Thirteen, I thought I told you to protect the students!"

Thirteen ran up to him, as fast as she could even run. "There wasn't much of an alternative. We were attacked by the mist villain, but he's currently down at the moment. Iida made it out of the building to get reinforcements and it may have been too long of a wait."

Aizawa let out a frustrated sigh as the students that attacked the villains returned to the group. "What's the plan then?"

"They want to kill All Might using the big guy," Katsuki interjected. Aizawa turned to him. "We plan on using Thirteen's Quirk to put him down."

"What?!" Aizawa turned to Thirteen. "You couldn't have possibly agreed to that! That's-"

"It's necessary," Thirteen interupted him. "The thing was clearly experimented on, it's not human anymore, and if it's strong enough to kill All Might then it's our only option. We all know there are times like these where there's no alternative, even if we don't like it."

Aizawa let out a 'tch' sound and clenched his left fist. "I hate this, but you're right." He looked at the tall monster, "it seems to only obey direct commands from the leader, so it won't act independently."

"You must be really confident if you're sharing your plan with me." The villain with the hands began to stand back up. "Typical... classic heroes."

"Oh yeah, I'm sure you were monologuing like a classic villain." Katsuki yelled back at him.

The hand villain scratched his neck in annoyance, "I will neither confirm nor deny that. But it doesn't matter, Noumu won't be stopped by the likes of you, he's got enhanced strength and speed!" He then looked around and examined all of the students, "So Kurogiri failed, huh? If he wasn't our ticket out of her then I'd kill him. Noumu!"

The black, muscular creature thing looked down to the hand villain. Everyone felt a chill crawl down their spines just front the gaze of the thing now known as Noumu being directed at them.

The hand villain pointed at the group, "Kill them, then go free Kurogiri!"

The Nomou couldn't even be seen, but it dashed forward and hit Aizawa, sending him back into a nearby wall. The Noumu began to wail on everyone there, one at a time, "Stay clear, everyone!" Thirteen then popped open three fingers and aimed it at the Noumu. She quickly activated her Quirk and began sucking the Noumu in, beginning to disintegrate it to dust.

It couldn't escape, even with its enhanced strength and speed. A black hole's pull is so strong that not even light can escape from it. Once about half of the Noumu had been turned to dust, she shut off her Quirk.

The hand villain scratched his neck in frustration before yelling out, "No! How can you have defeated Noumu so easily! Grah! This can't be how it ends!"

The students had begun to recover, as did Aizawa, somehow. They all began to circle in on the hand villain, who had been baking himself into a bit of a corner, when the Noumu began to twitch again. Everyone, including the hand villain, began to look at the downed villain as it suddenly regrew the half of its body that had been disintegrated.

"Oh, how could I forget!" The hand villain exclaimed happily and a bit excitedly. "Noumu has Super Regeneration as well!" Everyone eyed the Noumu again, forgetting about the hand villain momentarily. "Noumu, get Thirteen then kill the rest of these brats!"

Noumu did just that, swatting Thirteen away and off to the side before targeting the students. They were taken out rather easily, some using their Quirks in an attempt to shield themselves or escape but all in vain. Yui was conflicted about using One for All, since she didn't want to sacrifice her arm when she may need it later.

Katsuki, Todoroki and a few others attempted to hit it, but it didn't work. "Ha! Don't even bother! Noumu has Shock Absorption!"

Aizawa had his face slammed into the ground multiple times. Some of the other students tried to put up a fight but stood little to no chance against the Noumu as it went would to anyone it could find to beat up.

The Noumu had decided to take an extra amount of time on Kirishima because of his Quirk, Hardening. The Noumu apparently thought that one hit wasn't enough so it decided to wail on him more. Kirishima was in great pain. Yui knew what to do.

She quickly stood up, since she had been hit by the Noumu earlier, and charged One for All in her left arm, looking directly at the hand villain. She then ran at him at full speed, intending to hit the villain with every ounce of strength she could muster up. Just as she was about to make contact a blur shot in front of her and took the hit, creating a puff of smoke in the air.

When the smoke cleared, it revealed the Noumu standing in front of its master. It had protected him from the hit. Yui expected this. If she targeted the leader then the Noumu would instantly return to protect him. Her arm was killing her, though, and was now officially out of commission.

"That was close," the leader mumbled. "Hey, your Quirk... it's just like All Mights! I want to kill you even more now."

The leader stepped to the side of the Noumu, smiling wickedly behind the hand that covered his face.

"Nou-"

The leader was interrupted by an explosion at the front door. Heavy steps began to make their way toward the end of the stairs, leading everyone to look. "It's fine now... I am here!"

All Might appeared at the end of the stairs, not smiling and glaring down at all of the villains below. "Finally..." the hand villain mumbled. "Noumu, get All Might! See if that internet guy's advice was right and aim for the left part of his chest!"

Yui was shocked. They knew about All Might's injury and were going to use it to their advantage in the fight. All Might may need help, but she couldn't do anything against the monster.

It dashed away in the blink of an eye, rushing toward All Might as he jumped down to battle. The two began to engage in combat across the USJ, shaking the entire building.

"Now..." the leader mumbled. Yui had turned around to look at the door earlier, leaving herself exposed. She quickly turned around to see a hand start to reach for her. "Where were we?"

"We were at the part where I kill you Handy!" Katsuki shouted, blasting himself toward the leader and aiming a hand right for his face. The leader didn't have time to react and was promptly blasted in the face by an explosion. Katsuki landed next to Yui, shorting her a glare. "Don't let your guard down next time, dumbass."

Yui looked at him, mildly surprised that he even saved her but also appreciative. His tone when he spoke was one of concern, not anger. Yui let out a very small smile and nodded to him before they both turned to face the leader, adopting their battle stances.

The leader mumbled something of an apology to his father while picking up the hand that had fallen from his face and putting it back on. He eventually stood and glared at the two students ahead of him. "Stand together, die together!"

He began to rush them, both of them ducked and moved to the left and right respectively. Katsuki, who had been on the right, used his left hand and aimed an explosion right in the leader's face. He ducked and attempted to grab Katsuki's arm but Yui punched his back and sent him off balance. Katsuki then used that to grab the back of his head to bring it down so he could knee him straight in the face. It was a hard hit that made the hand come off of his face again and break apart on the floor while the leader tumbled on the ground.

The two students stood by one another again as the leader looked at the shattered hand on the floor. He clenched his fists angrily. "You'll pay for that, you brats!" They could see his dried and scarred face behind the sloppy blue hair. His gaze was of pure hatred and anger, wanting solely to make them suffer.

He attempted to rush them again, but Yui took some of the items that were stored in her pouches and threw them at the leader. She used her newest ability to enlarge the objects, with the rate at which the objects grew being too fast for the leader with him ending up getting hit, falling to the ground once again, this time somewhat surrounded by enlarged objects.

Suddenly, the Noumu flew out of the building from the ceiling up above. The leader knew that this was bad, now looking at the students with wide eyes. Not too far from him, the girl with the mushroom clothes was starting to get up.

The leader quickly got up and dashed over to her. Yui and Katsuki couldn't make it in time and he was able to put an arm around her neck and place four fingers on her neck. The girl, who Yui recognized as Komori, made a soft whimper and yelp. "Don't move, or else she dies!" He moved the fifth finger closer to her neck to emphasize that point. Yui and Katsuki immediately stopped their advance, scared he may do something drastic.

All Might approaches the students, out of breath from his fight and holding his left side. "They knew exactly where to aim..."

"So the information was good then?" The leader seemed happy. "I'll give the guy props for selling that information. I should give him more money. But it seemed Noumu wasn't strong enough... the final boss was too high level for it."

"Who told you about my stomach!" All Might yelled. "Nobody should know about that!"

The leader laughed. "Wouldn't you like to know, Symbol of Peace? I'm not gonna let you get our info guy, he's way too reliable. Now..." he kept backing up, "let me go or else your precious classmate dies. All it takes is a single finger and she's dust!"

They were stuck in a standoff. Neither hero or villain wanted to back down. Eventually, All Might relented. "Alright, alright! Fine! Just don't-"

Spores began to come out of Komori's body. The leader started to breath them in and cough, glaring down at the girl in his grasp. "What the-"

He let her go instinctively as he clenched his own throat. The girl fell to the ground as the villain fell to his knees, struggling to breath. Yui ran to her classmate and helped her and away from the villain.

"I..." she started to mumble, visibly upset. "I didn't want to do it but..."

The villain glared at them as he struggled to breath, mushrooms appearing on his body. The number one hero and her classmates look at her for an explanation, "Young Komori, what did you do."

"He... he breathed in my spores." She started to explain, looking at the number one hero before looking at the villain. "My Quirk, Mushroom, allows me to spread fungus spores from my body and almost instantly grow mushrooms from them. He breathed it in, so..."

"So you grew mushrooms inside of his body," Katsuki finished, glaring ahead at the suffering villain.

"I- I didn't want to b-but he-"

All Might put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It is alright, Young Komori. You did what you needed to do."

As All Might tried to comfort the girl, black must began to appear from the leader's right side. The villain now known as Kurogiri looked at the leader, "Tomura Shigaraki, it is time to retreat."

"How the fuck did you escape?!" Katsuki began to rush forward, aiming directly for the brace around Kurogiri's supposed neck area. He was too late, though, as he used his Quirk to swallow them both up. But, before they fully disappeared, the leader, now known as Shigaraki, gave them a glare that promised both Yui and Katsuki pain that they couldn't ever possibly imagine.

The reinforcements that were meant to arrive had shown up shortly after the two retreated. Everyone that was meant to be guarding Kurogiri had been knocked out cold, somehow. None of them even knew what happened, but they didn't seem to have any long lasting injuries.

Aizawa and Thirteen seemed to have the most damage done to them, aside from Yui's arms which was healed by Recovery Girl. After everything that had happened, everyone was sort of just silent. Nobody said anything about it, but small groups were formed and people sort of just enjoyed the company of another person.

Katsuki wasn't one of those people, preferring to brood on his own rather than stick around people. He didn't really have anything against anyone, aside from Yui, it's just he prefered to be alone. Yui was similar, preferring to think alone than be around people. It had always been that way for her.

They were given some time off of school. Nobody really complained, since everyone was feeling off after the attack. But everyone knew, despite how shaken they were about it, they survived. They were able to collectively work together and push back the villain attack. That eased them a little bit, but they all still couldn't help but think of the outcomes that could have happened.

After their short break had passed, everyone seemed to have moved past it. Spirits seemed to be quite high in the classroom, with conversations coming to life and new bonds being formed. Some students actually developed a bit of closeness during the attack, which in its own way was nice.

Despite the fact he should've been recovering in a hospital, Aizawa still came in to teach the class. When Iida asked if he was alright, he brushed it off and stated that his well-being didn't matter. Instead, he told them that the Sports Festival was drawing near.

The students were a bit perplexed. Jiro asked if it was really the right decision to have the festival so soon after the attack, but Aizawa assured everyone that everything would be fine. It would be a way to show that U.A. would not shake and fall, showing that their crisis management system is as strong as a rock by holding the event. Security would also be strengthened five times that of previous years as well, just as another precaution.

It seems to be enough for the students and they let it be after that. Heroes everywhere would be watching for scouting purposes and everyone was set to prove themselves.

That same day at lunch, All Might asked her to have lunch with him. She accepted the invitation and he led her to a private room to eat. He told her, bluntly, that he did not have much time left as the Symbol of Peace. He requested that she make herself known to everyone out there, let her know that she was there to step up for him when he stopped down. She would try her best.

Then began the two week wait for the Sports Festival. Yui chose to train herself as much as she could. She knew she had to evolve from being a glass cannon, so she would do that. She would do it to protect the people around her.

Katsuki was similar. He wanted to improve so something like what happened at the USJ never happened again. He wanted to beat the shit out of any villain that dared attempt to attack them.

They both trained intensely for the Sports Festival which was to come. Katsuki found some kind of secluded place to train his body and Quirk without raising any unnecessary alarms.

Yui decided to mostly train One for All. It was her main goal to evolve the Quirk from being a one-hit-and-out, type thing, so she would. She didn't really think that her body needed much improvement anyway.

She chose Dagobah Beach as her main training spot. It was nice, pretty secluded, and an overall open area with a lot of space for training.

For the first few days she worked on her power limiter. In order not to break her limbs, she just wouldn't move her body when she channeled the power through her. She used an image of a burning stove as a gauge. She imagined the power output for the fire, from full blast to a low flame. She took that image and applied it to One for All, controlling the amount of flame that was put into her arm.

It took hours out of a few days for her to finally get that down. It was harder to gauge a seemingly unlimited amount of power than it looked. She was only able to get it to around 5% without her arm feeling any sort of pain. Anything too much higher and her body started to hurt a bit, but she would have to experiment with the higher percentages later.

After that though, she discovered a problem. She shouldn't have to rely on just her arm to use One for All. When she thought about it All Might flowed the power throughout his entire body, not just a singular limb. How would she be able to protect people if she merely used the Quirk in sections?

So, she sought to do that next, and it didn't take long. She took that 5% power and distributed it evenly throughout her body. She could feel the flame spread to each limb, essentially warming her up on the inside. Streaks of red appeared on her body, before disappearing and getting replaced by a dark blue lightning that covered her body.

She wouldn't lie, she was excited about the new revelation. When she moved, she found that her movements were enhanced and faster than they were before. She figured it applies to her strength as well, but she couldn't really test that at the beach. She ran with this new form that she decided to call Full Cowling, getting used to its feel and adjust herself to the new power output.

She did that for days, even going into some back alleyways to practice her parkour skills, just like the video games she played. It was sort of illegal, but she wasn't caught doing it so it was fine.

One day, though, she had arrived at the beach to train One for All a bit more when she saw a familiar individual with green, curly hair.

He seemed to be enjoying the atmosphere and the sound of the waves. Yui wanted to greet him, since they have met before, "It is you again." She had fully walked down the stairs and started making her way over to him by the time he turned around. He seemed surprised, and a bit shaken, by her sudden arrival. Did he not expect her to suddenly be here? Well, it's not like she could blame him for that.

He nodded at her, a small and friendly smile appearing on his face. He was actually a little shorter than her, or at the very least almost the same height. It was probably because he looked like he hadn't worked out a day in his life. She stood next to him and began to look out into the horizon as he spoke, "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Nor I you," she simply responded, looking over at him. "What brings you here?"

He took in a deep breath and then let it out. He seemed almost nervous, "I was frustrated and needed a place to relax." She could understand that. There were times where she too became frustrated and sought out some form of relaxation, usually from somewhere environmental. She nodded to him as he said, "What about you?"

"Same." It was somewhat true. Full Cowling was frustrating her. She was having trouble getting the hang of the necessary movements she needed to input so she could have optimal control of the form. Woah, video games were really getting to her more now. A question came to her mind, though, and she could use an opinion on it, especially from someone that doesn't have any direct involvement, "Can I ask you a question?"

He raised a brow, "Sure, go ahead."

"It is actually a few things." She admitted, a bit nervous as to what was about to be asked. He nodded, not caring about the multiple questions that were to come. "If you were given power, what would you do with it? How would you use it?"

He could answer this a few ways, and she hoped he covered what she wanted. The question in general was bugging her since the attack, so she could really use an opinion. "Well, power is a pretty broad term, but if I were given one then I'd do the most good I could with it. With great power comes great responsibility, I think would be a good saying here."

Did... did he get that from somewhere? Yui has a vague memory of seeing that same saying in multiple things but she couldn't exactly remember what. But still, it was good advice so far. It looked like he was going to say more, so she didn't say anything yet.

"What I would do with it would depend on the quirk, or power as you called it. If you were given a power involving healing then I would likely want to go into the field so I could heal potentially injured people. Sometimes hospitals are too late, and despite the risks of going out there, I could save more people than just staying put in some hospital. For something like strength or endurance then I'd obviously put myself in front of a villain to protect people. That's what heroes are supposed to do, after all."

He had the same viewpoint as her regarding that subject. They had minds that thought similarly, at the very least. It was all good advice and it was refreshing to hear it from someone not directly involved in heroism like she was. He seemed to have a grasp on what really makes a hero, too. There was a sense of admiration in her, at that moment, but she buried it deep within herself for now.

She did have to wonder, though. Why isn't he a hero, or trying to be one? He seems like prime hero material and would be great in the hero course. She had to ask, "How old are you?"

He seemed a little freaked out at the sudden request for his age, but he still responded, "Fifteen."

Yui was confused now, "Why didn't you apply to become a hero then? You would have made a great one."

She saw his eyes light up at her compliment for a moment before darkening under some kind of thought. His smile disappeared as the waves crashed into the shore. He looked up at her, "I think it's my turn to ask a question, don't you think?" His words carried a special kind of venom that she couldn't quite fathom, so it took her aback. She still nodded to the request though, it was only fair. He took a deep breath before asking, "Do you think someone Quirkless could become a hero?"

She was surprised, no doubt about it. He looked back out into the ocean as she thought about the question. "Yes, I do." It was the truth. She looked out into the ocean as she spoke to him, "Anyone can be a hero, Quirkless or not. It will be harder for them, sure, but if they try hard enough they can succeed." She thought of a real world example, "Eraser Head is a good example of this. His Quirk does not help him fight, just even the playing field. He basically fights Quirkless himself."

He seemed, uplifted by what she said. His smile seemed to grow wider in his happiness, which was something Yui admittedly adored. "May I ask why you wanted to know?"

His smile dropped after that, and Yui's mind and heart began to race. Did she say something wrong? He took another deep breath and Yui could feel herself tense for some reason, "I'm Quirkless." The confession was shocking, but not unforeseen. She, in the back of her mind, figured that it was a logical reason for him to ask such a question. "All my life, I've been waiting for someone to say that," he admitted to her further. Yui got the context of what he was saying. Nobody told him he could do it. It hurt her, on the inside. "When I was four, my Quirk never came when everyone else's did." He looked at his hands, seemingly remembering something, "I was shamed, bullied, beat up... and so much more." He looked back to her, "Up till now, nobody has ever said 'you can do it!', and that's what hurts the most."

Yui didn't even think before she wrapped her arms around him. A single year rolled down her cheek. She could never imagine something like that happening to her, but for it to happen to him just for something he couldn't control... is just cruel. No wonder why he didn't apply, he was probably afraid of the same treatment happening at a hero school, or his self-esteem fell so low he thought he couldn't possibly do it. He was hurt for simply just... dreaming, and became broken because of it. He needed someone to lean on, because from the way things were sounding, he had nobody; no friends he could rely on and talk to. She needed to let him know that somebody cares for him.

The contact they shared seemed warm and nice, something Yui had never experienced before. She too never had any real friends, but her case was different. But, would their outcome be the same? Maybe... making friends wasn't so bad of a thing.

In her now slightly shaky voice, she told him, "I'm so sorry you had to go through things like that." He hesitated at first, but his arms eventually found their way around her back as well. She was happy.

They eventually separated from the embrace. She noticed a tear start rolling down her cheek and she couldn't help but place a hand on that cheek and wipe away the tear. In a way, Yui felt guilty. She continued to speak to him, "I'm sorry," her voice became a bit softer, "I wish that I was there. I wouldn't have let you suffer by yourself."

She knew he had received the emotion in her words, but he shook his head with an appreciative and small smile on his face, "Don't feel bad. What's done is done, there's no changing that. And besides, if you were there too, you would have been hurt too. I would never wish that upon anyone."

After that statement, something inside Yui sparked. She didn't know what it was but she felt an urge to ask him. He seemed like the ideal hero, better than she could ever be. She was sure All Might would respect this decision. "If I..." she started, but her own nervousness cut her off. She took a deep breath to calm herself before asking, "If I could give you a Quirk, would you take it?"

He was taken aback. He clearly wasn't expecting any kind of question like that; how could she blame him? The question sounded impossible in it of itself.

His response genuinely surprised her, "I would refuse." It was the truth, she knew it. He gave her a heartfelt smile before he started to explain, "I'd appreciate the offer, but I wouldn't take it in a million years. Being a hero isn't just about power to me, it's about what's in here-" he pointed to his head, then his heart, "and in here." He paused before speaking again. "Those are the main components in heroics, not some kind of power. Yeah, a Quirk would be useful to punch a villain but a lot of the time anyone could create a device that can do something similar. There are multiple routes in heroics too, not just the fighting side."

That... that right there was why she asked him in the first place. Yui admired him, that was confirmed now. She also knew there was more to it than what he said, but decided not to push on the subject in case he was uncomfortable with it. She smiled at him, "An admirable way to view heroics. What is your name?"

She could see some pride in him after that, which was amusing, "Midoriya Izuku," he held out his hand, hoping she'd take it, "and you?

"Kodai Yui," she responded, gladly taking his hand. She curiously asked, "If I may ask, do you live around here?"

He nodded, "Yeah, I do. Right here in Musutafu, only a little bit of a walk from home to this beach. What about you?"

She was surprised for a moment," I do as well. I live in an apartment complex, it's not too far from here. I just moved in not too long ago though."

It was his turn to be surprised by that, "Me too, actually. Apartment complex two, down a few blocks."

"Apartment complex one," she responded quickly.

Yui blinked. He started to laugh, and, by some miracle, she joined him. She laughed, like she actually laughed. That was a milestone right there. Midoriya was something else, alright. "We were right next to each other and didn't even know."

"Mm!" She responded in quite the chirpy fashion. After that, they both just stood there in the open taking in the nice breeze and listening to the ocean waves hit the shore. It felt really nice to Yui. This feeling was entirely new to her. She wanted to keep that feeling. It was turning to dusk, which Yui quickly realized. She looked at him, a bit unsure at first but then confidently tapped his shoulder to grab his attention. "May I see your phone?"

He was confused but complied anyway. She snatched his phone as soon as he took it out, her heart racing all the while. After fiddling with them for a bit, she handed his phone back to him with his contacts still open. He saw what she did and started to try and reason with her, "You don't have to do this, I-"

She immediately held up her hand to stop him from talking, which worked. She started to speak instead, "Nobody was there when you needed it most. Let someone be there for you now. Let me be your friend, Midoriya."

He accepted her plea, unable to bring himself to decline. She inwardly cheered for both him and herself. She had a friend now! Despite her uncertainty on what to do next, she was happy she made it to that milestone!

After that the two exchanged goodbyes as Yui had to soon get back home. She didn't like being out after dark. That was the day two loners made a friend in each other.

For the rest of the days leading up to the Festival, she lightly trained One for All. She had been getting the hand of the enhancement of Full Cowling, so she didn't need to exactly push herself anymore than necessary.

She also privately asked Aizawa for an extra ticket for her new friends. She knew that the Sports Festival tickets could be quite expensive and her friend didn't seem like the kind of guy that would have a wad of cash laying around. She also just really wanted him to watch her in the Festival! She didn't know why, but his eyes were more important than any Pro Hero's eyes could ever be.

It took her ages to just text him a simple 'hello' so she could ask him if he wanted to go. Luckily for her, everything seemed to go well and he agreed to go.

The day of the actual festival seemed to arrive quickly after that. Todoroki straight up challenged Katsuki and Yui both. The two didn't really know how to take the challenge, but Katsuki's mind was fuming. He swore if Todoroki half-assed it then he would personally make him go all out.

Midoriya told Yui that he got caught up in some kind of accident and would be running late, probably missing the speech.

Speaking of the speech, she was informed ahead of time that she would be the one giving it due to her placing first on the Entrance Exam. She immediately revoked that privilege from herself opting for someone else to do it, which they agreed to. They were going to give it to the second place person then.

Apparently, the one that got second place was Katsuki. He was surprised by it at first too, since he probably wasn't informed ahead of time like she was, but accepted the opportunity to speak anyway.

Yui noted that whatever training Katsuki did was basically off grid. Nobody knew what he was doing, and he was more silent in class than he usually was. The only time he'd converse with people would be at lunch, where apparently he found a friend in Kirishima and in another girl from Class-B.

Speaking of a girl from Class-B, Yui finally found her cousin, Uraraka Ochako. They exchanged simple greetings and a few questions but started to quiet down when everyone made it out into the field.

Katsuki walked up to the podium and up to the microphone, his fists clenched at first but then started to relax. "I... I messed up."

Those three words shook the entire stadium. They were heartfelt and broken, like he had lost something. Yui never thought she'd see something like this from Katsuki.

"When I was younger, I let my own ego get in the way of my thoughts. I let it consume me and dictate me and because of that I was a jerk." He admitted aloud for literally everyone to hear. "But, after an incident I saw what I was and strove to change myself. A lot of you probably saw what I had to say at the Sludge Villain incident a while back. I want to be a hero, not just because I want to show heroes that don't want to act how to do their job, but to protect. I want to protect people. Not just from villains, but I also want to protect their dreams and what they strive to be. I'm going to win this for everyone! I want... I want be the best hero I can be! I'm sure everyone here can relate to that..."

He hesitated for a moment before stepping down from the podium. When Yui looked at him, she could see the hurt in him. He looked like he was about to cry, which was a sight she never thought she'd ever see. He wanted to say more, she knew he did, but he didn't have the courage to do so.

Slowly, people started to clap. It built up more and more to where almost the entire stadium was clapping for Katsuki's speech. After a while, everyone calmed down and let Midnight announce the first event.

An obstacle race would be up first, something which Yui was excited for. Full Cowling would certainly be put to the test here. Her athletic abilities already provided a significant boost to it as well, so if she imagined it right she should shoot ahead of everyone there.

When the race started, everyone tried to funnel into the one tunnel in an attempt to get a head of the pack. Unfortunately for most people, their feet were frozen to the ground due to an ice wave. Yui and Katsuki both were able to avoid it, much to Todoroki's displeasure.

Yui let the fire course through her and fuel her movements. She swiftly passed Todoroki, who was in the lead, and dashed ahead of him. Kastuki grit his teeth in frustration and started to fire explosions every second to increase his speed. It was impressive and no doubt hard to do, so the fact he was gaining on Yui didn't even make her mad.

Todoroki was falling behind now, so he decided to get creative. He decided to let the ice push him, creating a wave behind him and letting the ice carry him toward the front.

Yui had a steady lead for a while, but Katsuki was gaining on her with Todoroki keeping a steady third. She vaguely heard Present Mic over the loudspeaker say that the first obstacle was coming up.

Yui didn't register at first and just kept running, but when a giant hand attempted to swat her she was forced to stop and dodge. It seemed Katsuki had a similar events happen to him, since he too was forced to maneuver around.

While the two of them were dealing with the robots, Todoroki merely froze them in place, allowing him to skate right under them, allowing him to take the lead. Yui and Katsuki didn't let him get away with it for long, since Yui expertly and athletically maneuvered around here while Katsuki blew his apart.

The chase was back on with Todoroki in the lead and Katsuki tied for second with Yui. Katsuki was starting to slip past her, so Yui decided to push herself even more. She increased her maximum power output by a small but, only to 7%, but it was enough to even the pace between them.

She almost didn't stop in time when she arrived at the bottomless pit. Kastuki and Todoroki had an easy time with this one, with Katsuki flying over the gaps with his explosions and Todoroki using his ice to skate across the rope bridges. Yui after quickly, using Full Cowl to help her jump from one area to another, soon making it to the other side and continuing her pursuit, though she was now behind by quite a bit.

The last obstacle was a landmine field. Katsuki and Todoroki were already halfway across, but they were too preoccupied with slowing the other down that they were slowing down in general. She didn't have much of any other option but to go through. The three of them were actually quite far ahead of the pack, so she could afford to take some time here.

She had an idea, but it was risky. Not that it being risky would stop her now anyway. She ran back a bit from the minefield before running forward, her maximum Full Cowl activated, and right when she reached the edge she jumped into the air. It wasn't much of a leap, but it helped gain distance and avoid other mines. She only needed to watch where she was landing and then jump again accordly. That was her plan, and it worked.

She caught up to the leaders in no time, passing them out and soon landing on the other side in a sprint forward toward the finish. The boys behind her decided to 'screw it' and started to use their explosions and ice respectively to accelerate themselves across, despite the fact they were making it easier for the other participants.

Yui kept a steady lead up to the end where she was announced the winner. By the time she stopped running she was actually out of breath. Katsuki barely made second with Todoroki in third, speaking of who was glaring at both Yui and Katsuki with a focused rage.

After that more and more people began to file in soon after that. Even the small, purple kid, Mineta, was able to get through the race. However, he was only able to do it because he attached himself to someone's back, who happened to be Yaoyorozu, and let her carry him to the end. Katsuki looked like he wanted to blast him back ten years into the past.

Up next was a Cavalry Battle, which admittedly Yui and Katsuki found not that interesting of an event. You make teams, there's horses and riders and you steal points off of the rider's heads.

Yui's team was stuck with... the mega load of points, which made her a target. Katsuki enjoyed going after her team for a while before he gave up since he was just unable to reach it. There were a few close calls during the event but ultimately it was pretty tame. But, most notably, Mineta once again pulled through and passed the event on Team Shinso.

In between the second and third event, Todoroki requested to speak to Yui alone. She was confused but accepted anyway. She would've rather met up with Midoriya or something but from the way he looked at her, she knew it was something important. Unbeknownst to them, Katsuki had seen it too and decided to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"Are you All Might's secret love child or something?"

She did a double take. Did... did he really think that? She rapidly shook her head, "No, that isn't how it is at all. Please do not misunderstand."

He lowered his gaze, but still kept up an intimidating atmosphere. "You said 'not how it is', so there is a connection between the two of you that you probably can't speak about, right?" Yui felt herself sweat a little but at his incredibly observational skills. That was an incredibly small slip up but he picked up on it immediately. She didn't say anything though, so he spoke again, "Endeavor's my old man. I'm sure you know that he's been stuck at number two for forever. If you have something from the number one hero, then I have even more reason to beat you."

Yui was surprised. She didn't know why he was talking like this, or why Endeavor's infatuation with All Might had to do with either of them. "What are you trying to tell me? What do you mean?"

"Have you ever heard of Quirk marriages?"

The sudden question took her off guard for a moment. It was a random question, but Yui knew it held some significance to this situation. She nodded her head, she had indeed heard of them before and had no form of liking to it. It disgusted her, really. Choosing a spouse in order to make offspring to strengthen themselves, in a way. It was sick and in a way inhumane.

"He won over my mother's relatives and got a hold of my mother's Quirk. He is trying to fulfill his own desire by raising me to be a hero to surpass All Might."

Yui felt like she was going to be sick. Something like that never should have happened. If she had a say in the matter she would elect Endeavor to be removed from heroism altogether.

Todoroki continued to talk about his life, how his mother was always crying in his memories and that when she snapped she threw boiling water into his face, which was how the scar had formed. This was abuse on more than one level.

This was why he wouldn't use his fire at all, to reject his father. Yui shook her head, walking up to him and putting a hand on his shoulder.

At first he was surprised by the sudden action, but ended up giving her a half-assed glare. She spoke, "I am sorry about your past. I cannot relate to such things, but I can tell you that you are thinking about your Quirk the wrong way." He seemed genuinely confused at the statement, so she continued, "When you got this power, it was no longer his Quirk, but yours. It is your power, not his. He cannot dictate how you use your power, or what goals you set for yourself. Remember that."

She walked away after that, leaving Todoroki to his thoughts. He seemed to be considering what she had said, which was a good thing. She could only hope that he could move past his past and look into the future.

The third event came around soon after that. Facing off in the first round was Katsuki and Todoroki, and literally everyone could see the rivalry in both of their eyes.

The two walked out into the arena after Present Mic introduced them in some bizarre manner. The two glared at one another, with Katsuki clenching his fist while angrily glaring at the duel Quirk user.

When the round started, Katsuki wasted little to no time in attacking. Todoroki would use his eyes to either evade or attack. Eventually, as Katsuki persisted with his attacks and became more relentless, he ended up releasing an entire glacier upon Katsuki, trapping him inside. After a few moments, people were starting to think Katsuki had gotten trapped inside, but small booms started to get louder and louder until eventually he found his way out of the glacier.

Todoroki didn't let up after that though, but the effects of his ice side were starting to get to him. "What's wrong, Icey-Hot?" Katsuki began to taunt, shoving an explosive play at Todoroki's face, which was dodged. "You can easily get rid of that frostbite by using that fire of yours!"

"You don't understand." Todoroki let out a wave of ice at Katsuki, which was easily dodged.

Katsuki ran forward to attack again, shoving his palms at his opponent's body, trying to land a hit. "On the contrary, I do!" Katsuki keed Todoroki in the stomach, sending him back and making him fall on his butt. "I overheard your little sob story. Cry me a river."

Todoroki looked up at him, shocked, then enraged. "You... you-"

"I what?" Katsuki asked, walking toward the dual Quirk user as he was getting up. "Listen, there are people out there that would literally kill for a Quirk like that. You know that?"

Todoroki sent more ice at Katsuki, running circles around him. Katsuki stopped his slow advance, standing still and merely exploding the waves of ice before they could hit him. The speed of the attacks had greatly decreased with the more frostbite he started getting.

"I used to know someone," Katsuki started, not that Todoroki cares as he sent more ice at his enemy. Katsuki didn't have to try in order to evade it. "He was Quirkless." Todoroki started to slow down. Katsuki had his attention now, "He was always a big dreamer," more ice attacks came that Katsuki blew up, "but people didn't like that very much. He wanted to be a hero but he was Quirkless."

The fight was basically nonexistent anymore. Todoroki stopped attacking to catch his breath and listen more attentively to what Katsuki was saying. Katsuki shoved his hands into his pockets before looking at Todoroki.

"Regrettably I was one of the people that didn't approve. Everyone hurt him and ridiculed him for just wanting to be a hero, but also for being Quirkless." Katsuki looked down at his hands, clenching them into fists in frustration and regret. He looked back up at his opponent, "Unfortunately, he's not here anymore."

Todoroki's eyes widened at what Katsuki had said. "That speech," he started, still catching his breath, "it was because of him wasn't it?"

Katsuki knew that the guy knew a lot more than that, so he simply nodded. "Yeah. I'm striving to change from what I once was." He pointed at Todoroki accusingly, "People like him are bullied for not having a Quirk when you sit here with two and not even using one! And why? Because of some shitty family issues! People here are giving it their all when you're just half-assing it! Do you know how insulting that fucking is?"

Todoroki looked at his hands, clenching them into fists before looking up at Katsuki again with a fierce glare. Despite how Katsuki said it, his story had affected him. Flames began to erupt from his left side, making Katsuki smirk and everyone else become surprised by the sudden wave of heat.

"You're right, Bakugo." Todoroki said to him, "I've been foolish up until now. I apologize for my irrational thinking." The frostbite that's as previously on his body began to melt off and Endeavor up in the stands began to freak out but everyone just ignored him.

Katsuki bent his knees down, ready to pounce forward while small pops erupted from his fingers. "Don't apologize to me, Icy-Hot. It's about time you realized it. Now..." he shot himself forward at a rapid speed, "let's fucking go!"

The two went at one another with their full powered attacks, but ultimately Katsuki was able to knock his opponent out of the ring. Yui smiled up in the stands. She knew that Katsuki had a soft side to him, not that she could hear the conversation, but it had to be something significant in order to spark the flames.

The other matches went by fairly quickly, with Yui facing off against Ashido Mina, which was quite easy for her. Yui would admit though, Ashido had some good athletic skills. She noticed that dance moves had been incorporated into her fighting style as well.

The second round started off with Katsuki facing off against Mineta. Oh, the poor thing didn't even see it coming. The first thing that tipped Yui off was the fact that Katsuki entered the arena with a feral grin on his face. But, not even a second into the fight Katsuki punted him out of the arena. Mineta had to go see Recovery Girl after that, while Katsuki just look mighty proud of himself.

Iida faced off against the pink haired support course student that had been on her team during the Cavalry Battle. She made a mockery out of him, basically. She eliminated herself after showcasing all of her gadgets. It was odd.

Tokoyami and Yaoyorozu battle next, and it didn't last too long. Tokoyami played it tactically and pushed her out of the arena with coordinated hits on her shield. The girl looked a bit down about it, so she told Jiro, her friend, to talk to her about it later.

Some guy with a Copy Quirk, Monoma was his name, from Class 1-B faced off against Shiozaki. He was cocky and kept talking down on 1-A which Shiozaki didn't appreciate so she ruthlessly knocked him out.

Kendo and Kirishima faced off next. Needless to say, Hardening was quite useless when Kendo could just use her Quirk to throw him out of the arena.

Tetsutetsu, who was basically a Kirishima clone, won his match against Sero. Sero was unable to move the Steel Quirk user with his tape since he was too heavy.

The purple haired general studies kid, Shinso, won two rounds in a row by making his opponents walk themselves off the edge. Yui kept that noted since she may have to face him if she wins the next round.

Speaking of the next round, she was facing her own cousin. Despite their familiarity, neither of them held back. Yui was surprised at how agile her cousin had gotten, since she was able to move fairly quick and dodge some of her hits. It didn't last too long, however, since Yui was able to get a solid hit on her eventually to knock her out of the ring.

Katsuki faced off against Iida next, and much to his displeasure Iida was able to move quite fast and dodge his attacks. However, Katsuki was clever in more than one aspect and was able to lure Iida to the edge and force him to run himself out of the ring by making him unable to turn any other way.

Tokoyami was able to beat Shiozaki due to Dark Shadow, as it's maneuverability was able to get close to her and deliver a solid blow to knock her out.

Kendo's match went the same as it did with Kirishima, no more comments needed to be made.

Yui battled against Shinso next. From what she observed, his Quirk was activated from some kind of communication method and it would essentially brainwash the other person. She just wouldn't speak to him, that wasn't too hard.

The two of them stepped out into the arena, with Yui looking ready to fight and Shinso looming dead tired. The fight began shortly after they made it on the arena floor.

"I'm sure everyone just loves you, since you have two Quirks."

Yui was surprised by the harshness of his words. That was his game, then? To trigger his opponent to respond through insults. It was actually a pretty smart strategy, but it wouldn't work on her. There was no need to go all out in this fight, so she slowly started to walk toward him.

His glare intensified. "Do you know how people like me are treated?" He started, looking at her intently. "We're bullied and made fun of just for having a 'villain's Quirk'. I hate how people like you get praised for having two amazing Quirks like that."

Yui kept walking forward, but her mind was racing. He was similar to Midoriya, as well as herself in some ways.

"I'm sure they always called you a prodigy or something. I was called 'the villain in the making'. Really nice, right?"

She eventually got in front of him and stopped walking, he has one more thing to say to her.

"I hate people like you that think you're so high and mighty just because you have a superior Quirk and power."

Yui shook her head before pushing him out of the arena. The match was over after that; Shinso rubbed his head while on the ground.

"Shinso," a voice called to him. He looked up onto the arena to see Yui with an incredibly stern face. "I want you to come with me after the Sports Festival. I want you to meet someone."

He was confused, but agreed to go with her anyway. She had asked Midoriya if he was willing to meet someone and he had also agreed. Hopefully things turned out the way she hoped.

The next match was between Katsuki and Tokoyami. It wasn't much of a match, since Dark Shadow has a particular weakness to light which Katsuki's explosions couldn't help fsobut produce. Tokoyami lost but ended up sharing a respectful bow with Katsuki, somehow.

Yui battled Kendo after that. Kendo looked like she had been looking forward to the fight for a while now and was excited to finally get the chance to do it.

Speaking of Kendo, the two started talking a little more after Yui met Midoriya on the beach. Yui started becoming more open to the idea of making more friends, which Kendo excitedly reciprocated. The two became more talkative at lunch and ended up getting to know one another a lot more.

But as for the match, it was practically no contest for Yui. Kendo may be strong and agile, but her Quirk was too slow and wouldn't be able to catch Yui in time before she knocked her out. Kendo realized this and stuck to basic martial arts, but Yui's superior speed was able to run her in circles which eventually left her open to an attack that swept her off of her feet and then pushed off the arena. Yui went down and helped her up after that; they both knew that was the start of their little rivalry.

The last match was next. They were given a little break time in between to rest and strategize. Katsuki was looking forward to this; ever since she beat him during that Battle Trial he had been itching for a rematch. Meanwhile, Yui was nervous. She knew Katsuki wouldn't go easy on her, so she would have to try her best and use her abilities to her advantage.

Eventually their preparation time ran out and they were forced out into the arena. Katsuki had no grin, snarl, or anything, only a focused glare that tracked her like a hawk. He was focused solely on her and would beat her no matter what.

Yui similarly stared at him as she got into an optimal running position, charging Full Cowl through her body as she stared ahead at him. Katsuki got into a fighting stance.

"BEGIN!"

Neither of them moved. They only continued to stare intently at one another, waiting for the other to make the first move.

The audience was on the edge of their seats, clearly feeling the tension around the two in the arena. The students of 1-A shifted around nervously, knowing how the two of their classmates had a sort of hidden thing going on.

Katsuki's right foot shifted to the right just a bit, but Yui tensed after the slightest movement. The lightning around her body coated her in a weird warmth, somewhat different to the fire she previously had felt when using One for All on a single limb.

Katsuki seemed too stubborn to make the first move, so she would do it this time. She upped her maximum output up to 5%, since 7% hurt her after a little while, and started to dash around the four corners on the arena. It was a perfect box she made around Katsuki, with every time she hit a corner she turned 90 degrees and went to the next one to repeat the first thing. She moved fast, with the color of her uniform being left as a blur as she moved from corner to corner.

Katsuki stared ahead of him, unmoving. His glare intensed as he looked ahead. He then suddenly jumped up, shot off an explosion to propel himself up higher, then let himself fall back down and fire a powerful explosion straight at the ground. The impact made the ground shake, making Yui stop her running and steady herself.

Small bit of rubble flew into the air as she stopped. She didn't have time to think as a palm made its way toward her face at a rapid speed. She moved to the side and behind him, but he didn't let up and continued to put pressure on her. He was incredibly fast, even with Full Cowl on its current bearable maximum.

She was able to grab his wrist before one of his blasts could hit her face, pulling him forward as she moved to the side. She attempted to throw him out of the ring that way, but he used his explosions to stop his fall and continue his attack.

Yui used some of the rubble from Katsuki's earlier ground attack to her advantage a bit. As she dodged, she picked up some of the larger bits of rock she could find and put them into her pockets.

Yui moved to the side so she could avoid a blast meant for her stomach. When he went for a punch from the side, she quickly doubled back and ducked under it, raising her foot into the air and kicking him in the stomach to knock him back. He stumbled back a bit, clenching his stomach in a bit of pain. He looked up at her with his teeth clenched in frustration.

Seeing as she had a good opportunity, she threw the rocks she had collected at Katsuki, using her mental ability to enlarge them. Katsuki recovered from the kick and began to advance again, blasting his way through the now enlarged pieces of the arena with ease. She continued to back away and throw them at him as she recovered her breath a bit. She could already feel her head start to throb from the amount of rocks she threw and enlarged, but she ignored it and continued to fight.

Once she was out of rocks, she finally decided to go on the attack. She dodge a punch aimed at her face and countered with a punch to his stomach, which hit its target. He stumbled back for a second but quickly recovered, but even so that second allowed Yui to start attacking him. She threw punches at him repeatedly, her goal being to push him toward the edge of the arena for a swift knockout. Katsuki kept parrying and dodging her punches, but it was fine since she was pushing him back.

Katsuki was able to parry one of her punches to the side, allowing him to get an opening to punch the shoulder of the parried arm. Yui stumbled for a second, allowing Katsuki to quickly bend down and do a perfect sweep with his legs, making her fall to the ground and land on her butt. She immediately recognized it as the move she used on him from the Battle Trial.

He stood over her, glaring down at her. She looked up at him, holding the shoulder that was punched. "Do you give up?" He asked, putting his hands into his pockets. "I won't hurt you anymore if you just yield."

Yui immediately shook her head. "I won't give up, even if I was on the verge of losing. I have people watching and counting on me to win." Her parents, Midoriya, All Might... they were watching her and rooting for her. She needed to win, or lose giving it her all.

Katsuki seemed a little angrier than usual after that statement, "Well, I wish I did too."

After that he picked her up by the collar and aimed her toward the nearest edge with a palm at her chest. Yui couldn't do anything or else she'd get blasted. She closed her eyes and accepted the loss. She tried her best and that was what mattered.

Katsuki blasted her off of the arena, calling the match and declaring Katsuki the winner. Yui was upset that she lost, but at the same time happy and proud. She felt like she improved herself during the festival, and not only that but she fulfilled what All Might had asked of her.

After that, the top three got to stand on the podium, with Katsuki in first, Yui in second, as well as Tokoyami and Kendo in third.

All Might appeared and gave medals to everyone, whispering something into each of their ears. For Yui, it's as a congratulations and a thank you. All Might told her that he was proud and happy she had gotten so far and learned so much on her own, admitting he had been a lousy teacher. Yui was moved, a bit, at his words.

For Katsuki, All Might had also congratulated him on fulfilling what he had promised to do during his speech. He told Katsuki that he was sure people would believe in him as a future hero, and that he would make a great one.

Katsuki was upset, for a few reasons. Yeah, he won but... he felt so alone. Incomplete? He fulfilled his main goal of winning, especially after the speech he had given, but it still felt like it wasn't enough. The person he was winning for wasn't-

That's when he saw it. In the audience, curly green hair and a face that matched his. Katsuki starred up there for a large amount of time. The person left the stands, and Katsuki was unable to follow yet. When they were allowed to leave, though, he hurried there as fast as he could. He needed to be sure. He needed to know if it was him.

But, he couldn't find him. Katsuki's heart raced after searching for him everywhere. But, he was nowhere. Was it real? A hallucination? An illusion? A ghost watching over him, perhaps? Katsuki didn't know for sure what it was, but some strand of hope now lied within him that he was still alive. He would find him... he would, if he was still around, and he would apologize and make things right.

Yui had brought Shinso to meet Midoriya. Yui was happy, because they ended up getting along just fine. She and Midoriya had both made a new friend.

After that, things turned back to normal, or at least as normal as things can be at U.A. High School. Aizawa had announced to the class that they would be having their first internship soon, letting them see how many offers they got.

Yui, not surprisingly, had the most amount of offers. She was a natural during the Sports Festival, since she waa an excellent strategist, fighter, and knew how to keep a level head in a situation where she was beaten or outmatched. In fact, most of her other classmates expressed their admiration for her after the festival. It was funny, since Yui admired Midoriya.

Katsuki had the second most votes. People, again, weren't too surprised due to his almost unmatched amount of power and skill in the field, not to mention his analysis skills and ability to think on the fly. Todoroki got the third most votes, and the amount was actually lower than most expected. But, it was still pretty high.

Afterward they had to pick hero names. Yui had long since prepared for this. Her parents, before she started U.A., told her that they had secretly agreed for her to succeed the hero name 'Rule'. Yui, at first, declined, but their insistence eventually convinced her. It was approved.

Katsuki was one of the first people done. His was approved, and when someone in the class had asked him about how he had come up with it so fast, he said: "An old friend recommended it to me once when we were younger." His hero name was 'Ground Zero'.

Yui had been having a lot of trouble thinking about who she would go to for her internship. She had thought about asking All Might for recommendations but he suddenly told her about how his old teacher had sent her an offer. She decided to go see All Might's old teacher Gran Torino.

Katsuki chose Best Jeanist, mainly due to his high ranking and experience over other heroes. Best Jeanist was reliable in most aspects and Katsuki wanted to genuinely learn from him.

When the internships started, for Katsuki it was confusing. Jeanist wanted to correct his 'bad behavior' at first, but when he saw Katsuki actually being respectful he decided to do other things. Katsuki would attempt to learn what he could.

Before Yui left to see Gran Torino, she noticed Iida was acting a bit weird lately. She knew his brother had been critically injured by Stain, so she wouldn't be surprised if that was what was bothering him. She would have spoken to him, but she doubted her words would mean too much due to their poor acquaintance with one another.

Gran Torino himself was... interesting. He, at first, played incredibly dumb. She realized it was an act, since she doubted he would send her an offer just to act like that. He was impressed she had figured him out and began to work on her Quirk right away. She showed him Full Cowl which made him even more impressed. He told her that they would continue to work on how much power she could handle through her body and steadily work her way up to greater limits.

The days seemed to go by daily quickly. They trained and practiced One for All repeatedly but never went too far. Gran Torino usually had them spar to improve her fighting skills, and Yui decided to note Gran Torino's own indoor strategy for fights for her to use later.

Gran Torino decided to take her to Hosu so they could fight some villains. However, during the train ride there they were ambushed by a winged Noumu. There were explosions and fire in the distance, so Yui asked to be able to help in the fight, and Gran Torino, who knew be well what she could do in a fight, gave her permission to fight if need be.

As Gran Torino took the winged Noumu away, Yui made her way to the much larger battle. A stronger Noumu was currently going to town on a bunch of heroes. The hero Iida was interning under was there, repeatedly asking where he was.

Yui assumes the worst and decided to look for him. She roamed the nearby places in Hosu looking for him. She then remembered Stain. She knew he was going after Stain. She began to rapidly check back alleyways, cranking her maximum output to 8% (which she could now handle), and eventually finding them with Stain about to deal a finishing blow. There was another hero there too, Native, but he seemed to be paralyzed, as was Iida.

She was able to knock Stain off of Iida before he could be killed. He was perplexed at her arrival on the scene, but she didn't care. She sent out a distress beacon to all of her classmates, hoping that anyone was nearby they would come to assist.

The event wasn't something she wanted to necessarily remember. Todoroki showed up just in time, sending a fire blast to save her from a sword to the stomach. She correctly deduced that Stain has a paralysis Quirk based on their blood type, which Stain seemed to respect in a way.

Stain also said she was different from the rest of them. The fact she had come to save them, throwing herself into the line of fire for others, made her a true hero, according to him. She agreed with the fact that heroes shouldn't care about fame, glory, revenge, and everything else, but the way Stain was going about spreading his ideals was something she would never stand for.

Iida ended up being able to get up, and the three of them beat Stain together. It was scary though; they almost died more than once during the encounter. She would rather not want to relive the memory again.

The police chief had come to talk to them after the entire ordeal. Since Gran Torino has given her permission to fight, she was able to take credit for the capture of Stain. She, however, declined, which shocked everyone there. Her reasoning was sound: since it was a joint effort to bring him down, she would not take credit for other people's efforts. She didn't much care for it either. They instead decided to just give the credit to Endeavor, who had shown up at the last minute.

They had finished their internships after that. Iida learned his lesson about going for revenge, inheriting his brother's hero name as Yui did her mother's.

When they went back to school, their encounter with the hero killer seemed to be the talk of the place. Everyone asked them if they were okay and everything, even Midoriya had called her to ask at one point during her internship, as did Kendo. Katsuki looked like he wanted to break something though.

Speaking of Katsuki, he learned a lot from Jeanist. He wasn't happy about the hairstyle he was forced to inherit, but the experience and advice Jeanist gave him was something he really appreciated and would later use in his hero career.

All Might had the class do a little race to get to him first. Yui had ended up winning with Full Cowl, now able to hold around 8% of it without her body feeling like it would crumble apart. Gran Torino really helped with that.

Later that day, after school had ended, Toshinori had pulled her aside to speak to her about One for All. He told her more about the Quirk, and it's origin.

The Quirk could not be passed unless the bearer wishes it to be, meaning it could not be forcibly stolen. It, however, could be forcibly passed. He labeled it as a special Quirk in it of itself.

He told her about someone named All for One, named after his Quirk: All for One. He spoke about how he gave the first wielder of One for All, who happened to be his very own brother, a Stockpile Quirk because of his brother's Quirklessness. However, the brother had a Quirk all along which was the seemingly useless ability to pass his Quirk to someone else. The two Quirks combined to make One for All, with every time it is passed down stockpiling more power.

Yui was nervous and freaked out on the inside. This, All for One, was spoken about like he was the world's most dangerous person. All for One had the ability to steal and give Quirks to other people, which made him incredibly dangerous. He had been the one to give All Might his injury, which did little to ease her worries. He had been around since Quirks started popping up too, so he probably had some kind of longevity Quirk. Toshinori had told her that one day it may be her turn to try and beat him, since even though he had thought to have killed him before he was still out there now. He let her leave after that, leaving her with her thoughts on the subject.

On a lighter note Yui, Midoriya and surprisingly Shinso too kept in regular contact with one another, but Yui more so talked to Midoriya. She liked talking with him, but she didn't know why. It was especially helpful to talk to him after the bombshell Toshinori dropped on her too. She found him perplexing and interesting, and sometimes the things he said made her heart beat just a tick faster. She didn't know what was wrong with her, but she knew that she actually had some form of enjoyment of it.

Between that, Yui and Toshinori had taken a trip to I-Island. The trip was interesting and eventful, as she was able to meet the Shields and learn a lot of new things. The only thing that really went wrong was the crisis that took place during the time, but it was resolved in the end and things had gone back to normal fairly fast.

Final exams rounded the corner faster than any of them had thought. Out of panic, multiple study groups were formed in an attempt to pass the written part of the exam. Luckily, everyone had enough confidence in themselves and powered through the exam in the end.

The practical was the interesting part. Instead of robots, as they were previously tipped about, they were instead told that they would be facing against the various teachers of U.A., including the principal. Aizawa told them that if they failed, they would not be able to go on summer field trip.

Yui and Katsuki had to team up with one another to beat All Might. Katsuki basically scoffed and went 'yeah right', but after some insistence on multiple people's part, with Kirishima surprisingly having the most to say about it, he relented and decided to cooperate. Their match was one of the later ones so they had time to strategize.

When the two were 'discussing' strategy, Katsuki's brilliant plan was to rush him in a head on fight. Yui wanted to face palm, but only did so mentally. Instead, they reasoned with using underground tactics to avoid All Might and reach the exit, causing a necessary diversion at random times to direct his attention away from their location. Katsuki reluctantly agreed that, yeah, it was probably their best chance to beat him.

When it came around to put the plan to action, the two surprisingly cooperated rather well. Katsuki was an asshole, but he cooperated. They took separate paths, left and right, to ensure that if one got caught the other still had a chance. They caused small diversions to get All Might to investigate, which worked better than they thought.

At one point, Katsuki had been found and had led All Might on a bit of a chase... for a few seconds. All Might kept trying to break Katsuki into finding out where Yui was, but he wouldn't break. Eventually, All Might had waited too long and Yui was able to successfully reach the goal.

Only a few groups failed, but Aizawa revealed that he was deceiving them. Everyone would get to go on the field trip.

It was some sort of Training Camp run by the Wild Wild Pussycats. Aizawa made them go through a woods full of monsters and miss lunch the first day, but the dinner was good.

There was also this twelve year old boy. He seemed to be... difficult. He didn't like heroes at all, wanting absolutely nothing to do with them. He passed out while they had all been taking a bath, protecting the girls from Kaminari's attempt to see into the girl's side. Yui had brought him to his aunt, who happened to be Mandalay. She told Yui a bit about his past, particularly about how his parents, an old hero team named Water Hose, got murdered by a dangerous villain. They thought that perhaps his behavior had to do with the trauma of losing his parents.

They had also learned that Katsuki knew how to cook like a master chef. Since after the first day the Pussycats wouldn't provide them food they were forced to provide for themselves and Katsuki took the role of class chef, not that anyone complained. Class 1-B also showed up at the Training Camp while they were training, so there was also that. Yui noticed how her cousin was attached to Katsuki, in a way, and that he actually didn't mind her presence at all. Actually, he seemed to enjoy it, which he really did but he would never admit that.

A few days went by as they trained. Aizawa had everyone go through painful and rigorous tests to improve not only themselves but also their Quirks. It was painful and hard for all of them but they all ended up pushing through it until then end.

During a fun little exercise they were going to do involving both classes, they were attacked. Blue fire spread throughout the trees in the forest and gas surrounded another area. The boy, Kota, was nowhere to be found during the attack, but Yui saw him head to his secret spot before, so she went after him.

She found him at his secret spot being cornered by the villain Muscular, the very same villain that had killed his parents. Muscular immediately recognized her and let it slip that she was a priority kill or capture target, and also mentioned Katsuki as one of them too. It seemed that Shigaraki was still salty about what happened at the USJ.

Muscular, despite what his orders were from the League, solely wanted to kill her and Kota. His Quirk, some kind of Muscle Augmentation, was incredibly tough for her to fight against. Her current Full Cowl would not stand a chance against the sheer strength and durability Muscular possessed. She was forced to destroy her limbs so she could beat him. She knew they'd scar but that's as a little price to pay as long as she saved Kota.

Speaking of Kota, he was crying. She had almost died to Muscular, but Kota blasted him with a powerful blast of water which had distracted the villain enough for her to get free and take him down. He was likely a bit scared from this. She took him to Aizawa, who she had found wandering the woods in preparation to fight. Aizawa had taken Kota with him to safety after he had told Yui to have Mandalay broadcast a message: in the name of pro hero Eraser Head, both classes are given permission to fight.

A lot of things happened after that; stuff Yui wasn't too keen on remembering, just like the Hero Killer incident. In the end though, Katsuki had been captured and a lot of other students had been injured from both classes.

Yui had been in the hospital recovering from her intense injuries to her limbs. They were scarred, very badly, as she had suspected they would be. They were very visible streaks on both of her hands and arms. She still didn't care, since in the end she was able to save Kota; her appearance was of little importance to her.

After she had initially woken up, the entire class had come to see her. They expressed their concerns for her in that moment and Yui didn't know exactly how to feel. She never had people do that for her before, so in a way it felt weird, but nice at the same time.

Then Kirishima had mentioned that he wanted to save Katsuki. Everyone seemed hesitant and unsure at the idea, with others expressing their extreme denial in it. Yaoyorozu had put a tracker on a Noumu that had also been on the scene, so she'd make another tracer so they could go save Katsuki. Kirishima has told everyone that if they were going, they would meet in front of the hospital that night (which was the day Yaoyorozu and Yui got released).

After they had all left, Yui sat in her bed with her thoughts. Sure Katsuki had been a complete and utter jerk to her since they first met, but did that mean she would discard her duty as a hero? No, she wouldn't. She had made up her mind to go save him with whoever else decided to go.

A few hours after they had left, Yui heard a knock on her door followed by the sound of it opening.

"H-Hello? I'm not sure if you really want me here but I thought I'd be nice to come and visit you." She recognized the voice as Midoriya's, turning to face him as he entered. He even got her flowers.

She shook her head at what he had said. The fact he thought to come and visit at all was nice, heck he could've just called her but he physically came to see her. She was touched, but there was also something else there that she couldn't identify. "No, please, come in."

He did as she asked of him, coming in and setting the flowers he had gotten for her on one of the tables. He pointed at them, scratching the back of his head, "I wasn't sure what kind of flowers you liked, so I just got roses." She looked at the flowers. The fact he had gotten her anything at all was nice of him, he shouldn't put himself down so much. "Your arms..."

He winced at just looking at them. Yeah, the scars were bad. She wasn't proud of them but it was necessary. "I had to, for a boy who was in danger." He seemed to relax himself at the reason.

"A boy?" He asked, "You told me you were going on some field trip or something. Why was a boy there?"

"Mandalay is his aunt, I think." She told him, he nodded. "He didn't like heroes, his parents were pro heroes killed by Muscular." She looked at her scars again, "That's who I fought to protect him from."

"I read an article about his escape not too long ago. Was it the League again?" She nodded at his question, "Guess they busted him out."

She nodded again. She didn't want to really talk at the moment, especially with everything that was going to happen that night. She asked him to leave, which confused him but he respected her request and left. made her promise to talk to him again soon.

The night rolled around faster than she had anticipated. Kirishima, Yaoyorozu, herself, Iida and Todoroki had all shown up. It was an unlikely team, but they each had a common goal in mind.

They had properly disguised themselves for the occasion, since they thought it was necessary. After that they had made their way to Kamino Ward, by some old warehouse.

As they were gathering information on the place, heroes started to attack the place. Apparently the heroes were doing a counterattack on them as well. Someone was in the building though and Jeanist, who had been attacking the warehouse with Mt. Lady and Tiger from the Pussycats, tied him up with his fabric. When the guy broke free, he ended up destroying the entire place. Yui knew that this was All for One.

He made them see visions of death. Not of just anyone though; he made them see their own dead bodies. It was sickening and made the five of them paralyze with fear. The rest of the League and Katsuki had been warped there too.

All Might had come in and attacked All for One but couldn't go all out with Katsuki there, so it was finally time for them to act. They used Todoroki's ice to create a ramp for Iida to push them off of with his Quirk, having Kirishima call to him due to their friendship. It worked, with Katsuki exploding his way up to them and grabbing his hand. After that, they were pretty much home free.

All Might, with Katsuki out of the way, was able to go all out. All for One pushed him to his limits and eventually made him reveal his vulnerable form to the world. But, despite that, people cheered for him to win. He did, but he had to effectively retire. He pointed at the news camera and said "you're next". Yui knew what the message meant. People may have thought it was directed at the villains, but it was meant for her. She would become a hero people could rely on. She wouldn't become the next Symbol of Peace, but one of Hope and Reliability.

Sometime after the incident, Toshinori had asked her to meet at the beach. He had reprimanded her, a lot. She didn't deny that she didn't deserve it. What she did was incredibly irresponsible and foolish, something that could have ended badly for all of them. She wouldn't argue against any form of punishment she may get. Despite that though, All Might hugged her and said he was proud. She was shocked, but didn't say anything and let the moment pass by.

Her parents were a different story. They had called her multiple times since the attack (which she had neglected to answer) and when she called them back after the Kamino Ward incident they were absolutely livid. You couldn't hear it in her mother's voice, but from the words she spoke Yui knew she had pissed them off on top of all of their worries. Despite their anger at her actions during the incident, they were glad she was alright and asked her to visit sometime soon.

Midoriya seemed... too calm about the ordeal when she talked to him. She wasn't sure what was up with him, but he got off the phone pretty quick when she had called him back. She was upset, honestly. She didn't know if he was upset with her or not. She would have to talk with him again soon.

It wasn't like that could be avoided anyway. U.A. has announced that the students would be moving into the dorms, so Aizawa and All Might would be personally visiting their parents to talk about it and get direct permission.

When it came around to her parents, All Might had been the only one to go inside. Her parents were actually hesitant at first, but All Might had told them everything. He had told them about how he wanted her to pick up where he left off and become a new symbol to the people, because he saw her worthy enough to do it. Her parents couldn't deny that their daughter was extraordinary, and accepted. They had also made All Might promise to take care of himself as well as her, which he accepted without hesitation.

When the day came to move into the dorms, Aizawa had told them that they would all (except Katsuki) be expelled under normal circumstances. He gave them a warning but said if something like what happened at Kamino happened again he would not hesitate to expel them.

The apartment she previously was at wasn't relinquished or anything. She had asked her parents to stop paying for it but they refused, saying that if she ever needed a place to hang out or take a break she could always go back there. They had the money to pay for it as well, so they assured her it wasn't of any concern. They had also reloaded the place with replacement furniture after she had moved most of it to her dorm room, so there was also that.

Aizawa had warned them that the Provisional Licence Exam was coming up, which was essential to pass if they were to be heroes. He had given them all time to practice their own super moves, which most heroes all had at least one of.

Katsuki was having a blast discovering his super moves. He was able to make an "AP Shot" as he called it, in which he could send out a powerful ranged blast at a target. There were a few other ideas he had come up with too but he was having difficulty getting them to actually work.

She was having some trouble finding particular moves she could use for her two Quirks. She had nervously called Midoriya, since she knew he had a knack for analyzing Quirks and hero stuff. She was nervous because of the way he had acted after the incident; she was unsure if he was still mad or upset with her. But, when she actually talked to him, he seemed fine and willing to help. He agreed to meet her at the beach to discuss her Quirks. It was odd, the way he acted back then and then now, but she didn't push the subject.

His advice had turned out to be incredibly helpful. He started off with Size, her original Quirk. He had initially suggested that she could carry small objects around in her suit, but she had already covered that. He then suggested a separate pouch for actual weapons like a bostaff or something, that way if she needed a melee weapon she could always have one on hand. She actually liked that idea and had actually been considering taking up some weapons training for a while.

For Super Power, which was what One for All was officially dubbed as, he suggested using it like Super Speed to disorient the enemy in order to confuse them. She also had been previously considering this. She had something similar at the Sports Festival but that's as pretty tame compared to the more advanced speed tactics. Gran Torino's running strategy in fights was something she noted as well and thought about utilizing in the future.

For a combination of super moves he suggested combining the two. Use her advanced speed to continuously throw objects at the enemy. Running in random directions around an opponent would confuse them, yes, but if she was also throwing and enlarging objects at them then she could swiftly take them down and trap them.

She took those suggestions to heart and told him that she would practice them on her own, which she of course did. She asked Ectoplasm to be her test subject, since he was supposed to be helping the students with super moves. The speed tactics worked beautifully. He couldn't follow her movements due to the speed and randomness of her pattern, even at 8%. The combination move worked like a charm too, since Ectoplasm was unable to properly predict where the next object would come from and had gotten hit or enough of an opening was created for her to attack. In the end he was incredibly impressed, as was Toshinori who had been there at the time to see it. Katsuki looked pissed at how much she had learnt in a literal day or so, but didn't act on his anger.

Yui also considered using more parts of her body in attacks, not just her arms. She shouldn't focus on one particular potion of her body, but both. If she practiced both using her arms and legs in combat she would be incredibly versatile.

When the Exams had come around, they had all learned the hard way that other schools did not particularly like U.A.. Needless to say they were all ambushed off of the start, but even with that they were able to push through and pass the first test.

Todoroki apparently had some kind of 'beef', as Kirishima put it, with some guy from a different school. It was distracting and it seemed like they would sabotage one another if they weren't careful.

The second one was rescue, which they weren't able to properly practice due to the USJ. Despite that, 1-A did their best to be the best heroes they can be by 'saving' people in need. Even Katsuki was doing his best to be polite to those who needed his help and even went out of his way in most cases.

Gang Orca had shown up at some point to play the villain along with a platoon of other guys. They had done their best to keep him at bay and protect the people. Despite the fact that Todoroki and the other kid, Inasa, kept getting in each other's way, they were able to work together in the end against Gang Orca.

When everything ended though, Todoroki had been the only one in their class that hadn't passed. He was down about it, but he had the opportunity to do makeup stuff to get his license as well.

One day, a disembodied head appeared to her in the ground. It was a senior, Togata Mirio, as she later learned when the Big Three had appeared before the class the next day. He was a little... high spirited, something Yui was pretty much the opposite of. Katsuki was annoyed by the blue haired girl, Hado Nejire, and curious about the other two. The third one, Amajiki Tamaki, was like her father in the ways of social interaction, putting himself in a corner and mumbling to himself at times.

Somehow things led to the entire class fighting Togata. Some of them thought it would be easy, but others actually took it seriously. Yui carefully considered the circumstances. There was no way he would challenge the whole class if he didn't have something up his sleeve, or think he wasn't capable of actually doing it.

When the match started, his clothes fell straight off and fell to the ground. He was now naked, but he phased into the ground. Yui had seen it before, with his head in the ground. He had some kind of phasing Quirk. He appeared behind them, naked, much to many of the girl's displeasure. Some covered their eyes, which led to them getting punched in the face. He had started by going after the long-ranged fighters first, leaving those that specialized in close-range left.

Yui, regrettably, didn't look away and focused on Togata himself. There were opportunities when he would come up and attempt to attack then, so she figured that if she figured out those times then he could be open to a suitable counterattack.

It didn't work. They all were defeated with Togata yellowing "POWERRRR!" over their defeated forms. Needless to say Katsuki was pretty upset about that. He had told them he had to practice his Quirk to become as good as he did, for multiple reasons, but Yui took the advice to continue training her Quirk.

Not too long after that Aizawa told them that they would be going out again for their new internships. Katsuki wanted to go back to Jeanist, who accepted, and while Yui wanted to go back to Gran Torino he denied her request due to some kind of ongoing investigation.

Instead she had decided to go intern with Nighteye, All Might's old sidekick. When Yui had asked Toshinori to talk to Nighteye, he flat out refused. She didn't understand why, but suspected that they may have had some kind of falling out.

However she had discovered that Mirio had actually been interning under Nighteye, so she figured she'd ask him to set up a meeting. He agreed and took her to Nighteye's agency.

Nighteye was... something else. He had a weird thing with laughter and attitude, wanting those that worked under him to be positive, smile and laugh. She found one of Nighteye's sidekicks, Bubblegirl, hooked up to some kind of tickle machine.

Eventually Nighteye saw her and gave her a semi-glare. She didn't know why he glared at her, but she didn't particularly like it. Well, of course she didn't like it, who would?

In the end Nighteye agreed to take her into his agency after a little test to get a pen from his hand. He had used his Quirk, Foresight, on her so he could look ahead and predict her next moves. She improvised Gran Torino's strategy of bouncing on walls indoors, doing her best not to hit and leave marks on the many things on the walls. She had gotten the pen from him by using an unorthodox strategy which he was unable to dodge. She had an object on her which she had thrown and enlarged, but right as he dodged, he was backing into one of the corners with nowhere to go. This allowed her to take the pen in the course of a few more motions, since he couldn't properly dodge while being pinned on one side of the wall.

Of course, he had foreseen the event taking place already, but he assured her that the test was necessary. He didn't seem too thrilled to have her on board, but he accepted her nonetheless and did tell her that she had some potential in her.

Nighteye had informed them before a patrol to keep a lookout for Yakuza members, more specifically the Shie Hassaikai. On that very same patrol day, she and Lemillion, which was Togata's hero name, ran into a scared twelve year old girl. She had run into Yui's arms, crying and scared while asking for help.

From the alleyway a man had emerged behind her, apologizing for his 'daughter'. She knew something was wrong here, but Lemillion gave her a look as to not try anything. Despite her knowing that she was in danger, as well as the hurting feeling that plagued her gut, she reluctantly had to hand the girl back to the man. She knew that was the man they were looking for, but she could do nothing. She felt horrible.

A meeting took place that included many heroes a few days later. Her cousin was among one of the interns that showed, as well as their assigned hero. Her cousin's hero name was Uravity, and was actually interning under the same hero as Froppy, which was Tsu's hero name. Kirishima had also been there, along with Amajiki, with Fatgum. Aizawa had also been there too, along with many other pro heroes. It didn't seem that there was anyone else she recognized there though.

At that meeting they learned about what they planned on doing. They were using the girl, Eri, to create Quirk erasing bullets out of her flesh. She had a Quirk that was able to rewind living things, so they used that to essentially rewind a person's Quirk factor.

Yui wanted to get sick. She felt absolutely terrible. She had let that girl go back to him, basically letting her get tortured again. She could tell Togata had similar thoughts to her, his face showed it. When Nighteye told everyone that they would be raiding their main base, Yui and Togata both made a silent vow to rescue the girl and save her from the torture she was receiving.

They were forced to keep the raid a secret from everyone. Yui made an exception for her parents, since they were qualified pros and, well, her parents. Yui expressed her worries to them, and they couldn't have been more supportive of her. They wished her the best of luck with it and hoped that the girl was saved as well. They believed in her.

She had told Midoriya that she wouldn't be able to talk for a little bit because of the raid. He seemed to understand and didn't push the subject. She was saddened that she couldn't tell her first real friend what was going on, but she was determined to do something for and with him in the near future.

The day of the raid came. She was nervous, they all were. She was nervous for herself, her classmates, and the girl she was trying to save. The sense of a looming failure threatened to drag her into the gutter, but she persisted and looked ahead, determined to succeed.

They had pushed through the base, defeating villain after villain with the intent of getting to Chisaki Kai, Overhaul, who was actively using the underground tunnel network to escape with Eri. Togata, Lemillion, had been sent ahead because he had the highest chance to reach the villains first with his Quirk.

The League had also been there, more specifically Toga Himiko and Twice. The two had been present during the attack at the Training Camp as well and Yui felt a hidden rage inside of her when seeing them. They had hurt their classmates, and she wouldn't forgive them. After a short confrontation with the two of them, they had escaped to somewhere else through the underground tunnels. Rock Lock, one of the Pro Heroes that had been accompanying them on the mission had been injured by Toga and stayed behind to guard another downed villain, Mimic.

They had rushed forward, the path having been clear for a while after that. They had only had to face a few more villains before finally reaching Togata.

When they had first arrived on the scene, those who were left, who were Eraser Head, herself, and Nighteye, were confused. There was blood scattered around the hallway in multiple places, and Togata had been on his knees with his hands on his face.

Everyone had focused on him at first, with Nighteye putting a hand on his shoulder to ask what was wrong. Lemillion looked at Nighteye, with tears coming down his face. "I... I failed, Sir." At those words, they looked around. Only then did they all realize what kind of fucked up situation they were in.

On the ground were two bodies. One of them was Chronostais, laid in a bad position somewhere up ahead with blood pouring out of a hole in his head.

Somewhere ahead of him was the boss himself, Overhaul. The sight of him made Yui want to be sick, and even though they would never admit it, Nighteye and Eraser Head had similar feelings. Overhaul's body had been mutilated. Several cuts were present everywhere on his body, deep and shallow, it was random. Almost nowhere on his body was untouched. His right eye was gouged out while the other had been stabbed by some kind of small tool, and was covered in blood. The eye that had been taken out laid next to him on the floor, staring at them. The mask he always wore laid on the separate end of the room, also covered in blood. Overhaul's entire body was covered in dry blood, almost nothing wasn't red. Someone made Overhaul suffer before finally putting him down.

Yui was starting to get lightheaded, having to turn away. Nighteye has also fallen to his knees next to Lemillion. "Mirio..." he started, his voice shaky. He gulped, "Did you-"

"No." He cut him off, his voice stern and cold. "I didn't see who it was. They... they were already dead when I got here. Eri is... Eri is gone." Tears kept rolling down his cheeks, as the four of them were forced to leave the gruesome scene before them and wait for others to make it to them.

Later upon further investigation, it was found that Overhaul had been stabbed/cut to near death before being shot in the head and killed. It was also discovered that his batch of permanent Quirk Erasing Bullets had also been stolen and the girl that they had been going to save was off the grid, taken by an unknown party. They suspected that the League, specifically Toga Himiko, had been the one to commit the murder, since she was on the scene, but nothing was confirmed as of yet. People were doubting that Toga did it though. People suspected that there was someone else they needed to worry about. Everyone was working hard to find the girl.

Nighteye had also not been able to see that future when he looked ahead. He couldn't believe what happened anymore than everyone else that was there. it opened up more questions about his Quirk as well, since everyone had initially thought that what Nighteye saw was absolute and unable to be changed. That did not seem to be the case anymore.

That night Yui had a nightmare. It was bad, really bad. Having a dream about someone surrounded in darkness mercilessly murdering your classmates, friends, parents, and teachers in the same way Overhaul had been murdered was not a good thing. She had woken up in the middle of the night because of it, unable to go back to sleep due to her own heart rate and fear. She had failed to save Eri, and now she's with someone else possibly getting tortured still. She could still be suffering and she was powerless to stop it.

When morning had come around, she asked Aizawa for a day off of school. He didn't argue with her or anything, immediately giving her permission. He knew what she had seen, and she was still young. She must have also had a tired look in her eyes that tipped him off to know she didn't get much sleep either.

She had ended up wandering to Dagobah Beach to relax herself, but it did little to help. She ended up messaging Midoriya to come and meet her. She needed someone to talk to, someone to get advice from and someone to judge her for her failure.

She knew that normal people would tell her not to blame herself for situations out of her own control, but she just couldn't help it. She had an opportunity, one ideal opportunity, and she blew it. She handed the girl back to that monster and in the end she's missing again. She needed to talk about it to someone, or else she'd never get closure.

He arrived not too long after she initially messaged him. He approached her and greeted her with a simple, "Hello."

When she turned to face him, she realized that she must have had some kind of change in expression. His expression shifted from happy to mildly concerned for her wellbeing. He knows that if her expression changed so significantly than she must have been through something bad.

He spoke again, "Kodai... is something wrong?"

"I failed," she quickly answered. He seemed surprised at the sudden response, taking him back a bit. He recovered quickly though and waited for her to say more. "I failed, Midoriya."

His expression turned to one of sympathy as he put a hand on her shoulder, "What did you fail?"

She looked down to her feet with a guilt stricken face, "I failed to save a girl that needed help."

He seemed to freeze, which somewhat surprised her. She didn't know why he froze, but maybe he was thinking? Was he disappointed in her?

She spoke again, "Tell me, please," she looked back up at him with pleading eyes. He seemed to look into them, awaiting her question. "Am I... a good hero?" She looked at her hands before forming them into fists. "Do I fit the ideal form of heroism?"

He was taken back by the question, clearly not expecting something like that to be asked. But, he responded anyway, "Yes, you are."

He thought she was a good hero? Why? "But, I failed-"

"But nothing," he interrupted her. There was silence for a moment as he thought of what wording he would use to tell her what he was thinking. In the end, he sighed and ended up embracing her in a hug. It surprised her, and she couldn't help but think of the time they met at the beach and officially became friends. He spoke, "Sure, you failed. But everyone fails at least once. Everyone has their wins and losses. You can't expect to win every battle, and that's something you always have to remember." Her hands tugged at the back of his shirt, and they pulled tighter after he said the next part, "To me, you are the image of what a hero should be. Selfless, caring, willing to put themselves at risk for innocent people that need help. Never forget that."

She wouldn't forget it. She really wouldn't. Those words meant so much to her and he didn't even really know it. Tears, which she had noticed had been rolling down her face, stopped coming and they stayed in their little embrace for a while, just enjoying the moment.

Eventually, they separated. She rubbed her eyes with her sleeves and looked at him with a soft smile on her face. He still looked a bit concerned, so he started to ask, "Kodai, are you-"

"Yui." She interjected. He widened his eyes for a moment in surprise, "Call me Yui, please."

It took a moment for him to shake away sudden shock, which was somewhat amusing to her. She had the urge to giggle, but suppressed it down immediately. He eventually developed his own soft smile and said: "Then you can call me Izuku, Yui."

After that, they walked home together, splitting paths once they reached the first apartment complex, since Yui had to head back to her dorm. She was determined to do something for her friend after all he'd done for her.

Up till now, Yui had her struggles and doubts about becoming a hero. She was afraid, mostly, of the failure she may experience. But, she experienced that failure in full. It destroyed her on the inside and grabbed her, holding her down so she felt like she couldn't get back up.

Now, she was going to become better. With the people that had supported her she felt like she could grow without a limit. Sure, she failed, but she would make it up by becoming better. She wouldn't let one failure hold her back. One day she'd save Eri, but until then she would have to work as hard as she possibly can so she could. She would become the best her she could be, and nothing would stop her.

\---

A/N: Like I said, this was really long. If you read the whole thing, thank you for sticking through it! I really appreciate that you took the time to read the entire chapter.

Like I said, this was just to catch up to where Izuku's stuff left off; next one we will finally see Mysterio again!

Hope you guys liked what I did with the USJ and Sports Festival though. I also hope you guys enjoyed that little but at the end with the aftermath of Overhaul's death. I know this didn't have a lot of Katsuki, but after a certain point he really didn't need to be included as much so I didn't go out of my way to include him.

I also know that it feels like Yui got over Eri a little quickly, but she knows that obsessing over one loss isn't going to help. She knows that it would only hinder her in the long run if she let it consume and eat her on the inside. So, she looks ahead. She tells herself that she will save her next time and nothing will hold her back. Of course she will still mentally struggle with it sometimes and she's not completely over it, but all she can do right now is look ahead to what she can do herself to make the change later, if that makes sense.

But, yeah, that's it. I hope you all enjoyed!


	7. Initiation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything starts with an initiation.

A/N: I was going to talk more about the Reverse Flash stuff, but I'm actually having second thoughts on what I want to do for that arc. I may be changing the character to someone who is not an OC. It'll actually probably work better in the long-run with way too and hit a little harder.

Actually this is probably what will happen and I'll save Reverse Flash for when I eventually get into the multiverse stuff. That doesn't mean the person I plan on sending back instead doesn't have Reverse Flash qualities (not exactly his powers or anything like that, but the concept of the characters will be similar plus more).

Either way, the rules of time travel will not be the same as Marvel or DC's own versions. I will have my own rules implemented into my story. That's happening still, even without Reverse Flash himself.

I take your opinions into account when I decide this stuff, so don't worry guys it won't be an OC anymore! That doesn't mean that at some point, a long ways away into the future, we won't have the original idea for the character actually show up.

A lot of you are confused on when I was actually going to bring this character into the story as well. It'll be soon, but not like the next chapter soon. Give it time, I've got a lot of other stuff I want to do before I include that.

Onto other things now. I have to thank you guys for all of the support you've been giving me with this story. I'm glad you all like it.

Finally, it seems like it's been forever but, we're moving into the first real arc now that the setup is complete. Bear in mind that a lot of stuff is going to start changing and while it may have some stuff from the manga included it will not be a copy.

This chapter is going to, in a way, set up a lot of stuff for the future. Relationships will build, stuff will be revealed, plans will form, and you'll get a peek into what Eri is going to become. Speaking of Eri you get the whole rundown of how she's going to be taken care of in this chapter too. I should also note that Izuku and Eri will be like siblings in this story. Overprotective, cautious, close, siblings. Also, Eri will be referred by her new name for, most likely, the rest of the story. I hope you guys don't mind the name, I think it fits.

I should probably go out and say right now that EVERYTHING in this story means something. Or, at least most of the time. This means that if I'm building a relationship up, it's for a reason.

On a few other notes, Aizawa's hero name is officially designated as "Eraser Head" not "Eraserhead" so that is how it will be presented here. The Cultural Festival will be, most likely, split into two parts. We have this one which includes a bit of catch up and development into the main story, and the next one which not only concludes the Cultural Festival but also includes the next action sequence. I'm also purposely leaving out information about Izuku's workshop/warehouse. This will come in at a later arc, so for now you don't know the levels of it or what it actually looks like. At most, you know it exists as well as the insane space it has, but not much else.

Current Sinister Six Lineup:

Izuku Midoriya (Mysterio)

Eri Midoriya (?)

? (?)

? (?)

? (?)

? (?)

You'll find out what persona Eri will be in the Sinister Six in this chapter. I'll say it's probably what you guys didn't expect. I've thought of many different possible personas that she could take, but I found this one unique and fitting enough to work. It may not be permanent and may change a few times, so don't expect it to stick permanently, but it will be around for a while.

I'd also like to clarify that, while these characters will be becoming certain characters, like Izuku is Mysterio, they will not adopt the personality from them in the comics/shows/games. Like for Izuku himself, he doesn't want to do what he's doing for fame, attention, or anything similar to that like Mysterio from Far From Home. His goal is to fix the hero system through any means he sees fit. This will be the same for characters such as Scorpion, Prowler, and others as well. Another example would be Yui. She's going to be the character that most represents Spider-Man, but will not share his entire mindset.

Just something I thought I'd let you know before you read this chapter and say something like: "What do you mean she's going to be _? _ is a nut job in the games and comics so does that mean she's going to be the same then?" That's not the case. Despite who Eri is going to become similar to, they will not have the same personality. She'll have the same powers or similar abilities as the person but, as I've already said, they will not share the same personality.

I should also note that this won't be a permanent persona for her. Eri will probably be the only person in this story who rapidly changes their persona. I'll put an explanation as to why I picked this particular person as her first persona at the end of the chapter as well to help clarify.

I will warn you ahead of time though, this will not be the "cute and innocent" Eri that you remember, but she will still definitely have those qualities. She's older now. She understands more now. Her view on things will be drastically different compared to when she's younger. She's spent a lot of her life being abused by Overhaul (yes, I made the point at which she gets given to him happen earlier), so she's going to be scared, jumpy, untrusting, and an overall... different person. You'll see.

Before I get to my last note, I would like to apologize for the delay on this chapter, I know it should've been out a week ago. I've been pretty out of it for a bit and I wasn't quite 100% positive on what I'd do for certain parts, so I was still making adjustments. I also have to admit that I was really nervous on how this one in particular would be received by you guys.

I should take the time to say now that you probably shouldn't expect a consistent update schedule. It's just something I'm unable to do. Though, I'm still definitely going to try and update this whenever I can.

I should probably also say that the grammar may be a little... weird, in some places, so I apologize for that. Additionally, as is my tradition, I want to apologize for any and all spelling errors you find. When I move the document I write on over to the website, for some reason the word count changes, so I have no idea if that's affecting anything or not.

All of your reviews mean a lot to me to read, so I hope you all leave one! Speaking of them, I'll be responding to them at the end of the chapter. Anyway, enjoy.

\---

In U.A. a private meeting between the staff was taking place. The conference had most of the pro heroes present: Eraser Head, Vlad King, Snipe, Midnight, Present Mic, Ectoplasm, Thirteen, Hound Dog, All Might and Nezu (who technically wasn't a pro but was very useful in the discussion).

Joining them was Detective Tsukauchi. With him he provided multiple files and records which contributed to the coming discussion.

"Alright, is everybody ready?" Nezu asked, receiving simultaneous nods. "Good. I have called this meeting to discuss the multiple hindrances that have affected us, the school, and most importantly the students."

"Is this about the League?" Vlad King asked, "We already had a meeting regarding them about a month ago. Did you find more information on them?"

Nezu shook his head, "Unfortunately the answer for both of those questions is a 'no'." The hybrid creature looked toward the Detective, "If you'd please."

He nodded, taking our several files and reports and beginning to pass around the room to each of the heroes. "These are reports from multiple heroes regarding specific villain encounters which had been piling up since April, or around the time when the first term started."

They started to flip through the reports, each of them growing more concerned with each passing one. Midnight raised a brow, "They're specifically aiming for weak spots." She flipped to another file, "Any idea as to how they're getting this information?"

The Detective frowned, "Unfortunately, the answers vary from time to time. However one thing was confirmed, an information broker sold them the information." Using a large projector in the back, he pulled him multiple statements from captured villains. "Most statements describe a simple website somewhere on the Web that sells information on heroes for a hefty price. We are still unable to locate the site in question."

Toshinori, who had been looking through his own files still. "During the attack on the Unforeseen Simulation Joint," he mumbled, catching everyone's attention. "Shigaraki said that some guy on the internet had told him about the weak spot on my stomach. I almost lost the fight because of that."

The staff grimaced at the new information. "They knew about your weak spot?" Present Mic asked, only to get a nod in response. He then stood up angrily, "Then this confirms what I said at the other meeting, we have a traitor among us!"

Nezu held up his paw for Present Mic to calm down and compose himself, which he did and sat back down. Nezu spoke up, "I do not doubt that anymore. It is not a coincidence that the League was able to attack Training Camp or was able to find out one of All Might's greatest weaknesses without being close to us. We kept the trip off schedules and made no announcement beforehand about it or where it would be taking place." He eyed all of the teachers in the room, "Someone leaked the information to the League. If they are not among the staff then they are among the hero course students. We will investigate all suspects, the Detective leading said investigation. Are there any questions?"

After everyone had shaken their heads, the Detective then spoke again. "Now we move on to the most recent situation." An image of Overhaul's body appeared on the screen, making some of the teachers visibly flinch at the sight. "I believe seven students had participated in the raid with two bearing witness to this, how are they?"

Eraser Head shook his head, "Kodai hasn't come to me yet." He looked to the side, "I know she is an inexpressive person, but I worry for her because of that." He turned to Hound Dog. "I recommend that Kodai and Togata see you twice a week."

Hound Dog nodded, "Agreed. I will set up appointments for them after this meeting is adjourned."

The Detective nodded, "Good. Now I would like to discuss the matter of the murder itself."

"I was under the assumption that Toga Himiko was the one to commit the murder," Toshinori stated, looking at his old friend. "Knives are her weapon of choice and from the reports I read she was on the scene as well."

Eraser Head spoke up. "We did indeed encounter her, but there was no way for her to possibly beat Togata to the scene after that." He looked down at the table in thought, folding his hands, "Even if she had committed the murder before our encounter with her, then what happened to the girl?"

"So another faction then?" Ectoplasm finally spoke up, asking the Detective.

The Detective nodded. "Most likely. The underground tunnels stretched for many blocks long and had multiple secret entrance and exit points." The Detective then brought up another image, "This door was breached only a few minutes before the raid initiated. The path to get to Overhaul from the door is incredibly random and complex, so the suspect had to take multiple turns in order to reach him." The Detective looked around to all of the heroes, "We believe that there may have been some kind of tracer on Overhaul that enabled our mystery man to find him, but if there was one it is gone now."

Eraser Head chimes in again, "That theory makes the most sense," he got a few nods from his peers. "Someone breached and entered through a separate entrance, located Overhaul with a tracer of some kind, murdered him, then took the girl back out the way he came. The question is, how was he able to get a tracer on Overhaul in the first place?"

The Detective shook his head, "Most of the grunts we captured are incredibly uncooperative. The ones that are cooperative are unable to recall anyone who specifically had that kind of tech or had a grudge against Overhaul to such an extent, much less know about the girl since apparently nobody outside of their group knew about her." He held a paper in his hand, reading something that had been written on it before looking back up, "Additionally the Yakuza's bank account had been completely drained of its contents. Someone had withdrawn or transferred all of the money without leaving anything for us to trace." He read another thing on the paper, "There was also a set of five experimental Quirk suppressing bullets that Overhaul had in his possession. One was found shot across the room; it had missed its target. The other four were not found. We believe that the one that killed Overhaul is responsible for both, but we have no leads as to who that may be."

Ectoplasm spoke up again, "What about the security system in the base? How about cameras around the hidden entrance?"

"Unfortunately most of the cameras inside of the base were offline during the entire raid. There were a few separate systems that were still online but the footage had been wiped clean." The Detective read more of what was written on the paper, "As for the cameras outside, they didn't pick up anything. It was almost as if they were invisible. The footage was not looped or changed either, it was entirely untampered."

"So we have no leads on where this person is or who they could be..." Present Mic grimaced, looking up to ask, "You're bringing this up for a reason, right? This would usually fall under Nighteye's agency because he was involved in the raid. Why'd you bring this up with us?"

"We believe the information broker from the website may be involved with the Overhaul case." Nezu was the only one not surprised at the statement. "We need more evidence to conclude that this is the case, but that is the only lead we have on the matter as of now. I brought it up mainly due to All Might's previous situation and how he was targeted, so you all may be targets as well and quite possibly the students as well."

"What evidence as of now do you have on the subject to connect the two?" Midnight asked, her arms now crossed. "I'm aware that your gut feelings are usually correct, but there has to be something connecting these."

The Detective looked at her, "There isn't much to go on. The only thing we have are extremely well-hidden chat logs from the Yakuza's own website. In one of those logs was the name 'Mr. Mystery', the same alias of the person that runs the broker website." He looked down at his papers, flipping to another page. "They had a scheduled meeting planned in which the broker would receive thirty of the Quirk Suppressing bullets which the Yakuza get paid a significant sum of money," Some of the teachers grimaced at the mentioned of the bullets. "From the numerous statements from captured villains, we know that this person is extremely intelligent. He or she is able to detect weaknesses in any given enemy and make viable strategies to adapt for others present and the environment."

Eraser Head spoke up while the Detective caught his breath, "When Overhaul and Chronostasis' bodies were examined we found traces of their own Quirk Suppressing bullet inside of them." He looked down at his own set up papers. "It's not too hard to believe that this mystery person bugged Overhaul during their meeting and used it to gain access to his facility and location. If the same bug had a tracker then that would be how he would have found Overhaul and the girl in the labyrinth. This would also explain why all cameras in the facility weren't properly active and their bank was completely drained."

The teachers thought about that information for a moment. This was actually a very plausible theory. Ectoplasm then brought up something else, "Even though their own bullets were used, what stops this from being a betrayal or someone else they've sold them to?"

The Detective looked over at him, "Nighteye has shut all of the remaining holders of these bullets down. Most of the bullets have been recovered or destroyed, with only a few groups or individuals left, but they're all on his radar. This is the only one he has no leads on." He then sighed, "As for it being a betrayal, I highly doubt that. The remaining Yakuza members seem entirely too loyal to betray him, not to mention most of them couldn't have been close enough to him and make it to where they were captured in the given timeframe."

"Should we cancel the upcoming Cultural Festival then?" Toshinori suddenly asked, specifically to Nezu after thinking about the situation. "The students may be in danger if we continue with the event. This guy may be too dangerous to keep the festival held, it's too risky."

Nezu shook his head, "We shall proceed with the event." Some of the teachers were shocked at the notion, "Similarly to the Sports Festival, we need to show the world that we are not standing down. I will make sure security is increased similarly to the Sports Festival."

The staff seemed to ease themselves a bit at the notion of an increased security, but the feelings of a looming danger still surrounded all of them. "What about the girl herself?" Thirteen finally spoke, "Do you have any leads on who she might be related to?"

The detective shook his head, "The information regarding that is incredibly hidden. The only thing we know about the girl is her appearance, first name, and her age, but we only have a rough estimate of that. We have no leads on possible family members or her whereabouts"

Some of the heroes looked downcast, Eraser Head especially. One of his main objectives was to save that girl and he had failed in that. He, of course, had experienced many other failures before, but this one stung just that little bit more. He didn't know why, though.

"On a side note," the Detective started, catching everyone's attention again. "Gran Torino and I successfully captured the most troublesome member of the League, Kurogiri." A picture of Kurogiri appeared on the projection behind them. "As of now he is incredibly uncooperative during questioning. Additionally," a picture of a giant appeared on the screen, "this is what Kurogiri was after. It's whereabouts are currently unknown."

"This is all troubling." Toshinori spoke, his face dark. "There is too much in play right now, it gives me a bad feeling."

"Same here, Toshinori," Nezu spoke, smiling at him. "But we cannot waver. If we do the villains have already won."

The Detective nodded in agreement, "Yes, this is why we are prioritizing the arrest of this villain. Due their clear intelligence and capability in finding weaknesses in heroes of any caliber, as well as the death of B-Rank Villain Overhaul, this person will officially be B-Rank Villain until further notice, but it may increase to A-Rank or decrease to C-Rank if any evidence suggests it."

They all nodded in agreement to that statement. The meeting was adjourned soon after that and the teachers returned to their normal duties. All of them had bad feelings in their chests, but could do nothing about it. The Cultural Festival was coming up in a month's time and they would be damned if any villain would ruin it.

\---

October, in the fall, at U.A. High School a certain event was being prepared for.

"We're going to have a school festival."

Upon Aizawa's sudden announcement most of the class promptly exploded into fits of cheers. They were excited for something so normal and carefree after everything that has happened to them.

Well, those things could also arouse concerns, "Sensei, is it really okay to be so carefree at a time like this?"

Surprisingly it was Kirishima who had asked that. He was usually the kind of person that would go all in for a fight but he was rightfully concerned. Villains were prospering and growing with the loss of All for One and All Might as top of their respective factions. Once they fell, other villain factions have been making themselves more active, like the previous Yakuza group. Crime had overall increased by around 10% and between U.A. and the Media they were making it abundantly clear.

Aizawa seemed to agree with Kirishima's concerns, "U.A. is not just about the hero course. The Sports Festival is typically the big moment for the hero course, so this one is for the others— support, general studies and business courses all have time to shine in their own unique and respective ways."

The class could understand that, so nobody made a big deal about it. It would be wrong to cancel something other classes looked forward to, despite the fact it may get less coverage than the Sports Festival.

There was also the fact that people were starting to get overly stressed due to the increase of crime and villain activity, Aizawa had said to them. Utilizing the festival to not only ease the people and students but to also show the villains that they'll remain active, not backing down, is a smart move. Aizawa had also mentioned that it would be just for the school, but there would be some people to record and broadcast it's events. Every class needed to participate with something.

Before Aizawa left the front of the room though, he had something else to tell his students, "There are some things you should know before I let you go," the student's attention was grabbed by the statement. "There has been an increasing amount of villain activity lately, I advise you to be more careful outside."

The message was cryptic but still a bit chilling nonetheless. The students didn't quite know what to make of it, but they took the warning seriously.

That's when Yaoyorozu and Kendo both went up to the front of the room and took over from there. Iida suggested taking suggestions from everyone so nobody would feel left out and they seemed to agree so they went with it.

There were a lot of suggestions. Yui didn't have anything to suggest so she ultimately sat that one out. Katsuki had suggested a Death Match, which surprisingly had some support behind it.

After Yaoyorozu eliminated some of the ones that seemed confusing or impossible some of the class started to get shaken up and loud. They were actively discussing what they could do or change in the suggestions, like combining all of the food suggestions into one collective. Though, they were too loud and unorganized and despite the representatives' attempts to quiet the class down they remained completely unsuccessful until the bell rang.

Aizawa had gotten up after that and before he left the room basically forced them to decide by the next morning or else he'd make it a public lecture. Everyone flinched at the suggestion and became determined to find something to do.

Yui as well as some of the other interns had some extra classes so they were unable to attend the meeting about it in the dorms. Katsuki had gone to bed early so he also wasn't present. But, the students had collectively decided to do a play, with musical elements mixed in. There were only a few suggestions that hadn't been eliminated and the majority of people had voted for that. Katsuki wasn't too happy that his 'Death Match' idea was discarded, though.

They had a month to prepare after that. They would need someone, or multiple people, to actually sing some parts, assign certain roles, set up the scenes and write a script. All together it was all gueling work, but the class was determined enough to complete it.

There were, of course, other details that needed to be put into it, but they had a month to put it all together, so it wasn't much of a concern just yet.

Yui had been having troubles of her own though. Despite her heart-to-heart with Izuku, as she now would refer to him as, she still had nightmares and trouble sleeping. She had noticed the light bags under her eyes a few days after everything first happened, and Aizawa did as well apparently because he made her go see Hound Dog twice a week now.

She had other issues with One for All to add to that. Her power wasn't getting anywhere. She was improving but extremely slowly. She felt as if she should be at a much higher level to where she was now.

She went to All Might to see if he could help.

"It's been a while since we've talked like this, just the two of us." He stated, a small smile on his face at seeing his protégé. "What is it you wanted to talk about?"

Yui held tea in her hands, looking down at it. "One for All... I am having trouble increasing my total output in Full Cowl." All Might looked at her, an eyebrow raised while motioning her to continue. "I feel like I should have a higher output that I currently have. I can only produce around 15% on my own, even then my body feels like it will fall apart." She looked up at him, "There is also an issue with long distance attacks. There are times where I cannot exactly reach the objects from my pockets. Even if I do, they travel at a slow pace and will not reach a target too far away. It leaves me more vulnerable than I would like."

Her plethora of objects were acceptable long-range attacks already, but for opponents at a longer distance away they were not reliable at all. She had learned that during a battle or two during the raid. Her objects were more of a close-range trapping and maneuvering mechanism she could use. Additionally they could create extra terrain she could use with her Full Cowl, giving her a slight advantage. She needed something she could reliably use to attack villains at a farther distance.

He put a hand to his chin in thought, "I have to admit, this issue you have with One for All is new to me as well. When I first received it my body did not destroy itself." Yui was surprised at the admission, but let him speak. "It is most likely due to the fact One for All is continuously stockpiling power, and everytime it is passed it becomes stronger."

He took a sip of his tea before setting it down and looking at her with concerned eyes. Yui looked at him more confusingly as he opened his mouth to speak.

"I can see the bags under your eyes." He commented, causing her to look down. She didn't know why, but perhaps her subconscious tried to hide herself from his gaze, "The incident must be hurting you more than you want to admit." He said, sighing, "I do not blame you. Some of us even flinched at the body when we saw it in the meeting recently. I can narrow down why you want to become stronger and I'm sure it is to protect the people you care about, right?"

Yui looked up to him and nodded. Toshinori let out another sigh, picking up his tea again for another sip before once again setting it back down.

"What I'm going to tell you is technically classified, but you are my successor and I feel you should know," Yui only nodded to what he said. "There is a third party coming into play now. Heroes are being targeted, even some of their most hidden and personal weaknesses being exploited. As of now we are being extremely cautious as to what we do in the future."

Yui looked at him questioningly, raising a brow. "Why throw the festival then?" She could tell he didn't support the idea of doing the festival, so she figured to ask.

"I do not think it is a good idea," He stated. "Villains are on the rise and this festival is a potential target. This broker knows a lot of things..." he unconsciously held the wound on his stomach with his right hand. "They knew exactly where to hit me before. Shigaraki stated that someone on the internet had told him that information. That broker... knew about my weak spot."

Yui's heart had started to uncontrollably beat against her chest at a rapid speed. She could feel a sense of dread, worry and fear wash over her. This guy that he was talking about somehow knew of All Might's weak spot. The USJ confrontation could have killed him, if he hadn't been careful. This guy was dangerous, that much was certain. Yui couldn't help but worry for her parents, who were well known pro heroes, as well as her classmates. They were potential targets of this guy, someone who could easily determine a weakness in a hero.

Yui was snapped out of her thoughts when Toshinori spoke again. "Let us change the subject back to what it was originally about," Toshinori suddenly changed the topic, hanging his head a bit. "One for All... it can be tricky. Tell me what you've been doing so far to increase your limit?"

So she told him, "I imagine the fire on a stove. I control the output of how much fire is produced."

He nodded, "A very good and helpful image." He put his hand to his chin in thought. "I can only recommend that you train your body to adapt to the feeling of a certain percentage of power. For example, channel around 20% of your Full Cowl, don't move, and train your body to adjust to the feeling on its own. It may take a while but that seems to be the best way. There is always the option of getting support equipment to help brace your limbs upon impact if you need them."

She nodded at him. It was worth a shot, really. She hadn't really tried doing that before so it was a gamble as to whether it was possible or not, but still, worth a shot.

"You should also make long-distance attacks," he also suggested, snapping Yui out of her own thoughts. "I've been looking back at certain things..." he looked up at her. "Let's go outside."

Outside they went, straight into the forested area on school grounds. Yui had changed into her gym clothes and Toshinori kept his suit on.

"Are you sure?" Yui asked him, unsure of what he was asking was truly sane.

He nodded, "Yup! Let's Full Cowling! Go to 15% right here!"

Hesitantly, she began to charge Full Cowling throughout her body, letting the fire warm her limbs and spark into an electric flame. She had increased to 15% as Toshinori had suggested and he ordered her to go higher, up to 20%.

Once again, she did as she was told and increased her percentage to an almost exact 20%, her muscles tensed as she crouched into a semi-squat position. "Remember how this percentage of power feels. Remember exactly how to get back to this point." So Yui did, as she forced her muscles to memorize the feeling. She practiced getting to that power multiple times, under Toshinori's demands, until she could instantly jump to that percentage of power without any delay or build up.

She powered down as Toshinori started to speak again, "Good job, Young Kodai," He praised her. "I was initially going to teach this to you when you hit an acceptable limit of 15%, which you have already achieved. Now, listen closely..."

In summary, Yui was taught how to send concentrated blasts of wind pressure from her fingers. It was a nice, alternative, long-range attack that she could better rely on to travel longer distances and hit targets. She would charge her Full Cowl to 15% and right before the moment she flicked her fingers would switch to 20%, then she would release the blast and switch back to her more stable 15%.

As the days went on, not only did she practice her performance with the class but she also took some lessons with Toshinori. She was having some difficulty keeping her fingers uninjured after firing a shot, so she and Toshinori worked on that the best they could. Toshinori brought Yui the possibility of using a support item to help, which chained into a multitude of different ideas which then eventually went to Hatsume for her to make.

The days started to pass fairly quickly as they did more work and it would only continue that way until the day of the festival actually came. Yui and Toshinori started to only practice her new attack around two or three times a week. Throughout that time, Yui was starting to adjust more and more to her new attack and getting used to the feel of it. She still had issues, though, mainly with internal bleeding, pain and drawback, but drawback issue was solved rather easily by her better adjusting her stance and positions when firing. However, the other two issues she still needed to work on.

About two weeks into her practice, she came up with a way to pay her friend back for all he's already done for her. She decided to call him and hope that he would accept her invitation.

\---

Life for Midoriya Izuku was... pretty alright, if he had to say anything about it. But, it could definitely be better. Not for him, really, but for the girl he had recently saved.

Following his attack on Overhaul, he had taken the girl, Eri, back to his home without any issue. Easily enough, he used the drones to mask himself from the outside cameras and just went home.

At first she had been afraid of being near them. She was afraid that her Quirk, Rewind, would end up erasing them from existence. Izuku had read up on her Quirk from the files the Yakuza had on her and from what he found out her horn seemed to be the source of her power. The smaller her horn was, the less power she was able to use. He was the one to reassure her that she was no curse, burden, or anything of the sort, but someone he cared about and wanted to protect.

It took a few hours of convincing, but he was eventually able to get her to touch him on her own without being totally afraid of killing him. He had told her what he knew about her Quirk and that she had nothing to fear, because he was there. He promised her that he would help her, as well as help her train her Quirk so she could control it. She had given him a tight hug after that.

During that hug, he had heard her say something about how his hold was comforting and safe. It made him smile. She was able to relax around him, so in his mind that was progress. She was attacked, tortured and scarred, so Izuku naturally wanted to protect her and keep her safe.

Eri hadn't stopped clinging to him for a while after that though. The following days after the raid was just him trying to get the girl adjusted in her new home. She would let him get, at most, twelve feet away from her before she started to follow him and cling onto him or just ask him to come back.

Needless to say that made a lot of things awkward. She absolutely demanded that he stay in the bathroom while she used it, bathed, showered, or just got prepared in general. The same could be said for him, as she would often follow him into the room and if he denied her she'd start having a panic attack. To solve the issue, the two just... had to cope with it. He only saw her as his family, someone he needed to protect, not a woman; so through the awkwardness he dealt with it.

Because of the unique situation, Izuku discovered that Eri was just all around clueless on how everything worked. She didn't know how to clean herself, brush her teeth, or just do basically anything. Izuku had taken the liberty of teaching her as much as he could and it didn't actually take her long to get used to doing things on her own, but he was still needed nearby so she wouldn't have any panic attacks.

It didn't take long for her to open up though. She talked with him rather easily, but it was a bit hard to get her to fully open up to his mother, even after their heart-to-heart after he brought her home. Izuku noticed that she never smiled, which was obviously from the torment she had been through for so many years. She made Izuku sleep with her, and even after falling asleep would cling to him as if he were the only shining star in her never ending darkness.

It was like the ghost of Overhaul surrounded the poor girl and wouldn't let her go. A dark presence just looked over her. Izuku was always saddened when he looked at her frown. He was at a loss as to what he could possibly do in this situation. He still didn't particularly have any social experience and he never took care of younger people prior to this. This was all new and a hell of a learning experience, but he would get through it for her.

Izuku had run some options for candy by her one time; he figured that she could enjoy some sweets. Some things seemed to get her interested, like a candy apple or cotton candy. Izuku took pride in the fact he was able to make all of those things on his own. Seeing her develop even just a small smile after eating his candy made him incredibly happy.

One night, after Eri had fallen asleep, Izuku had been able to slip away to speak to his mother about Eri's situation. There were multiple problems that needed to be addressed. Heroes were, most likely, actively looking for her day-after-day, so they would need to not only alter her appearance but change her name and give her a new identity with a new backstory.

They didn't get far before they heard a lot of rustling coming from Izuku's open room. When they investigated, Eri had been shaking in her bed rocking and almost violently moving from side to side as if she were struggling. She reached out a few times, trying to grab something with her hands; so, Izuku went over to her and picked her up. The squirming stopped immediately as she seemed to relax into him.

Instead of continuing the discussion out in the living room where they had been having it, they just decided to finish it in the morning and could also get Eri's input on what they should do.

When morning came, Izuku and Eri had gotten ready for the day while Inko made breakfast. Izuku had taught Eri how to do most things on her own, but she prefered to stick close to him most of the time.

When breakfast came around the three of them sat at the table and had talked about it while they ate. It was mostly up to Eri to decide most of the stuff, like what she should look like and what her new name should be. Once Eri made her decisions Izuku would just create a fake ID, social security and all basically take care of all of the technical stuff.

At first, when Inko said that they were going to "discuss some matters" she had misunderstood and clung to Izuku for dear life. They quickly explained what they were actually going to be talking about and she seemed to relax; dare Izuku think she seemed both happy and excited as well.

When she heard that she would 'officially' be a part of the Midoriya family she had given them her biggest smile yet. They ran a few names by her and when she didn't like them they came up with more. It took a little while, but ultimately she had ended up picking 'Izumi'. Her main reason was that it was the most similar to Izuku's name. Inko even commented on the fact she would have named her daughter 'Izumi' if she had one anyway, so it was practically perfect. Eri's new name was now 'Izumi Midoriya'.

Additionally they had to alter her appearance a bit. Heroes were obviously going to be looking for a white haired girl with a horn on the right side of her head. Inko had mentioned that she could find someone with an Appearance Altering Quirk, but Izuku himself denied using that. There were simpler methods they could use instead of making a permanent change, just in case Eri wanted to keep it temporary.

First off, they cut her hair for the simple reason of it Being way too long for her. Ever since she moved into the Midoriya abode she complained of it hurting when he did her hair, or that it got caught on objects and pulled on her scalp. So, they just cut it.

At first, when she saw the hair clippers, she freaked out. Izuku had to assure her that they wouldn't be used to hurt her. After a while, she relented, but she would only allow them to be used if Izuku was the one that used them.

When he looked to his mother for help, she laughed and gave him a thumbs up. He sighed and reluctantly picked up the hair clippers. Ever since Eri- Izumi first got attached to Izuku, Inko had been all but helpful. She thought it was "cute". Inko liked that they were becoming close, as siblings should be.

The whole time he was cutting her hair he was scared he'd accidentally cut her. He wasn't a barber or hairdresser; he wasn't experienced in this department! He picked a size, not too long, not too short, and just started to buzz it off. She didn't complain about it either, so he thought he was doing a good job; that wouldn't stop him from having his doubts about it though.

Once he finished and showed her, she wanted it cut shorter. He didn't understand why, but he did it anyway. In the end the girl only had about two and a half inches of hair left, left unstyled. The parting of her hair let it flow a bit to the left and to the right, but overall it didn't look that bad. She liked it and thanked Izuku for his efforts, hugging him and smiling widely. Izuku felt prideful; he was successfully fulfilling his duty as an older brother figure.

The next thing that was on the list of things to do was dye her hair. They could already see that being a pain in the ass, having to re-dye her hair once it grows in more. Izumi didn't really mind though, even offering to do it herself if they'd let her so it wouldn't be a burden to them. They told her that they didn't mind doing it, just that it would get repetitive after a while. That day her hair color was changed to the same shade of green the rest of the family was known to have. Izumi was so happy; she felt like a biological family member.

Her horn was a different story, as well as her eyes. Well, her eyes were pretty easy to hide. They could just give her special contacts to wear. Her horn was the bigger issue though since it was the most recognizable thing. They could just use a hat or something to hide it, but using that solution long-term wouldn't be a smart move. A hat could easily be blown or hit off and if any hero with common sense was nearby they could easily make a connection.

Instead, Izuku opted for a different solution. He had been working on something specifically for one of his potential recruits, but he figured it could still be useful in this given situation.

He had to take her to his workshop/warehouse though in order to actually get it, since she didn't want to leave his side at the moment. She was starting to get better with that, but ultimately it'll take a little longer for her to fully get used to it. Getting there wasn't much of an issue, since he just used his drones to mask him from any cameras throughout the city.

While Izuku had been digging around for the prototype, Izumi took the liberty of exploring around a bit on her own. When Izuku found what he was looking for, he found the girl mesmerized by the technology stored there. She constantly asked him questions like "what does this do" and "does this work with that". Her enthusiasm and interest in his work made him happy, causing him to let out a chuckle and give her a meaningful smile. He didn't mind telling her some things. When he told her how things worked, what they did, how it should be used, etc, he could tell she was giving him her full attention. She seemed genuinely interested in what he was working on.

Eventually, after he had finally finished explaining most things to her, he decided to give her his completed prototype. It was a small device that could lock onto a person's clothes, activated, controlled and changed through his tablet. It was only the prototype, but it was still the best option for them to use especially because he didn't think Izumi was ready to have complete control over the device yet.

When he had turned it on, a holographic projection began to overlap her body. He had told her that it was okay and that it was normal, so she didn't end up freaking out. The blue holographic image coated her body, nothing changing until it got to her eyes and horn. Once it got there, Izuku tapped a few times on his tablet and the holographic imaging changed her eye color to match his and completely camouflaged her horn to make it look like nothing was there. Overall, it was a success; Izuku used the imaging to make the device he placed on her disappear as well. This would also work on her hair, but Izumi herself wanted it to be dyed all of the time; she said it made her feel more a part of the family.

Following that, Izuku decided to take care of everything. While he was in the warehouse he hacked into the government's records and made her 'official' legal documents under the name Izumi Midoriya. They shouldn't get any alerts or figure out the documents he made were forged, he made sure of that. The official story as to why nobody knew of her would be that she was living with her father in America and had to return due to an accident of some kind, so now she lives with her mother and brother.

With that, they had no need to hide from the cameras anymore. They could walk outside freely now that everything was in order. There wasn't really a need to hide her now since she looked almost nothing like the missing little girl the heroes were looking for. No horn, green hair that's extremely short, green eyes and not to mention the 'official' documents stating her citizenship basically ensured that she would be fine. In fact, they had even passed by a few patrolling heroes that had given them a friendly wave.

The next few days were spent getting her a little more adjusted to her new appearance and home. She was opening up a lot more to both him and Inko, often requesting to play games or go outside for a walk. Then, she kept begging Izuku to go back to the workshop. It seemed as though after he explained to her that he manually built everything, or most things, she not only wanted to see more but get involved with it herself.

Izuku absolutely refused. He would not let his new little sister get involved in what he was planning. Not only was it too dangerous for her, it was just plain... not okay for him to let her get involved. It was dangerous and what he was doing was something that could get him into serious trouble if he wasn't careful and in extension her if she stood with him. He said that to her, but what she said in response both warmed and froze his heart at the same time.

She had started off shyly but, after getting reassurance from Izuku that he wouldn't be mad, she looked at him directly in the eyes and said: "You saved me, so I just want to help you. Why can't I help you like you helped me? I don't care what you do, I just want to help and do things with you!"

He didn't know what to say to her after that, much less once she started to shed a small amount of tears. Eventually he relented; mostly because he thought of the possible aftermath of his possible responses. He was afraid, of course, but he was more afraid of what would happen if she felt rejected. What would she do if, per say, Izuku totally rejected her and left her alone? There were a lot of things that could happen. She's already depressed, so perhaps suicide. Perhaps she would go to great lengths just to prove herself, similar to what he wanted when he was younger. All in all, the better thing to do was just let her come with him and do what she wanted. He was too afraid to think of what would happen if he said no to her.

She seemed to be interested in what he actually did too. More like fascinated by it. He supposed that wasn't a bad thing either. If she wanted to come and watch him work, or just hang out while he did so, he didn't have a problem with that. He was just scared of what would happen if she were caught with him in the event he was caught, or worse.

When he said she could come, finally, after all the times she had asked, he didn't know if he'd seen her happier. She was crying tears of joy, basically, as she gave him a tight hug. She profusely thanked him for letting her help him. As she cried into him, he couldn't help but wonder why she could be so insistent on wanting to help him. Was it because she wanted some kind of purpose? Was it because she was genuinely interested in what he was doing? All of them? He couldn't be sure, but in the end he accepted her and if that made her happy, he was happy.

That same day, he finally began work back in the workshop with Izumi right along with him. The girl was basically skipping her way ahead just because she was so excited to get there. When they got there, Izuku decided to simply work on a few more drones. He had a few left to finish from before the whole "Eri Rescue Mission" thing, so he wanted to get them operational and out of the way. The entire time he worked on them Izumi had been right there, mesmerized by the sophisticated work he did. She would often ask questions and he would answer; it actually more so amused him than annoyed him.

As he worked the thought had occurred to him: why not teach her how to do this stuff? From what he and Inko could gather on Izumi's level of intellect, she was actually fairly smart. Yeah she didn't know a lot of stuff due to her time in captivity, but when they ran a few things by her to see if she understood the girl strangely picked up on the subjects rather easily. It was like her ability to learn and remember the content given far exceeded that of a normal person. Izuku himself was actually considered a 'prodigy' due to his high amplitude for learning. The courses he completed usually took a lot longer for normal people. Izuku considered that fact that she was like him in that aspect, a prodigy of sorts. He would have to look more into that later.

After a while, she ended up just watching him do his thing. It was like she was studying how to do it and trying to specifically remember the steps taken to reach a certain end. Izuku was impressed at how well she followed his movements, but said nothing about it for now. It was something he'd need to look more into at a later date.

Eventually he gave her one of his spare, clean computers — one obviously not connected to his sources or has any of the similar history on it — for her to browse on. Additionally he added a child search protection software to it so she wouldn't end up exploring places she shouldn't be going. He had told her that, since she was so interested in his creations, she could find something online for him to create. She happily agreed to it and hastily went to her research.

At first she didn't know how the computer worked, he should have figured that out, but he had given her the basics and ended up leaving her to it. She already knew how to read and write pretty well, which actually shocked him and Inko. The girl actually had quite the vocabulary too. Their only guess was that someone had taught her how to read and write, but didn't understand why. They supposed it didn't really matter much now anyway; there was no reason to worry about it when Overhaul was dead and most, if not all, the remaining Yakuza members were captured or killed.

Additionally, public schooling had actually been brought up between the family of three at one point. Izuku has unintentionally winced at the mention of it, which made Izumi start to ask questions. He then explained to her his own school experience and, go figure, she absolutely refused to go to school, saying "if other kids are so mean I don't need to go, Izu-nii can teach me!". Izuku couldn't help but agree; he could easily teach her what she needed to know in a much faster time than any school could. Not to mention that he didn't even think she could handle going to a public school as of now. In the end it was decided that Izuku would take care of her education himself.

She was also rightfully pissed off, or at the very least very angry, after hearing about what Izuku had gone through during school. She had absolutely no respect for the public education system and even more so other kids. Izuku noticed that, one time, after Bakugo was mentioned, she glared and clenched her teeth. However, it only lasted a mere moment before she assumed another expression. Izuku thought nothing of it, for the time being.

Speaking of the captured Yakuza members, he had looked through them to see if there was anyone interesting enough to try and either recruit or pry for information. It was likely none of them would crack for information though, since a lot of them were too loyal to Overhaul to do so.

However, one was particularly interesting to Izuku. Kendo Rappa; while for some reason unwilling to tell the police any information Izuku still found him quite fascinating. His personality especially, was interesting. A battle-hungry man that only wants a good fight, not caring about what gets in the way. While unsuitable as a permanent recruit, he was someone to keep in mind for a future use.

Another thought had occurred to him as well. Izumi's Quirk would be especially tricky to deal with. He would have to train her, he figured. He knew a lot about Quirks to begin with and had a good amount of confidence in his own abilities to be able to help her. It wasn't like they could take her to a specialist anyway since they'd be found out immediately.

While he was working on a drone, his mother had come by. She seemed happy and satisfied about something. Izuku only found out what it was about when she came in with his fully finished Mysterio suit. He was impressed with the design, it was pretty much exactly how he had sketched it. He would have to try it on later. His mother left after that, saying bye to both him and Izumi before wishing him luck on his projects.

As he worked on his drones, he thought of something else. Automation. Automation would work wonders for drone production and significantly increase the number of them with a shorter production time. It was risky though- setting a machine like that takes a lot of time and could create a lot of errors, which in turn could mean he would get less drones completed overall if he took too much time on the automation machine. It was a thought for later, he guessed. In the meantime, when he was home or something, he could work on possible designs for an automatic drone building center. He had the space for it on lower levels of the warehouse, but he needed to make sure he could actually build the thing correctly first.

The day had gone by with them simply doing their own things. When Izuku had told Izumi it was time to leave, she was saddened to go, seriously looking to be interested in something she was reading online, but nevertheless she complied and followed him out.

The next day he had taken her back there, under both Izumi and Inko's insistence. They had started doing what they had been doing the previous day, all going well until about after a few hours of working in silence, Izumi had reapproached him with a nervous look on her face. She wanted to ask him something but was ultimately too shy to do so. After some words of encouragement, she stated with a blush on her face: "S-Scorpions are cool!"

To say he was surprised would be an understatement. Why, in the name of everything, would she like Scorpions of all things? Like, that was so random to him. Why not a pony, or a horse, or like literally anything else? He shook his head, refocusing on his sister. He was glad she found something interesting and wanted to tell him about it. It was adorable, really. "W-Well, why do you find them interesting?" The stutter was mostly due to his own shock at the fact she liked scorpions of all things.

She seemed to get more embarrassed after he asked for her reasoning. Most of her responses were stuff about its looks and qualities, like how it had an amazing grip which they could crush things with, the tail they possessed was cool and was able to inject a toxin into its enemies and the fact they just looked cool.

Izuku was baffled; not only as to how the hell she even found scorpions of all things on the internet but also because she seemed to be genuinely interested in the creatures. "Well, Izumi," when he addressed her as her new name, she smiled, "I'll admit, I'm surprised. How did you even learn about them?"

Eri looked at him excitedly, but still a tad bit nervous. "T-There was this website that had a whole list of creatures in the world and I thought it was interesting." That made sense. He didn't know what exactly she searched to get to that point, but he supposed that if she was curious enough about animals and the like she would eventually find something like that. "There were other interesting ones, like bears, rhinos, chameleons, spiders - except the widow kind they're scary -, geese, ducks, vultures-" she cut herself off once she realized she was starting to ramble. "B-But Scorpions were the coolest!"

He chuckled. She seemed really interested in learning about different types of creatures. Maybe he'd let her ramble about each of them later. He chuckled, amused at her antics and ruffled her hair. She gave him a small pout of annoyance as he started to talk, "I'm glad you found some stuff you're genuinely interested in. Why did you tell me this all of the sudden?"

She shyly looked in another direction before responding, "I-I... I wanted to get a cool suit like yours..." After that she started mumbling, but Izuku understood what she was trying to say.

Earlier while Izuku had been telling her what he did and was working on, he had told her that he had been genuinely interested in holographic imagining and the mystery element of things. He told her it's what he based the suit off of in the first place. So he thought that perhaps she wanted a suit too based off of something she was interested in and liked too. He couldn't help but chuckle at that, it was cute.

Even though it was cute, he had his doubts about even considering making a suit for her revolving around a Scorpion. He already knew that after she started listing what Scorpions can do that she would want all of that stuff included, including the venom tipped tail, the enhanced grip strength, etc..

He sighed. He snapped her out of her rambling, which was something incredibly similar to him, and made her look at her questionably. "Izumi, are you absolutely sure you want this?" The concern in his voice was very, very clear. From that question alone and the tone he spoke in she knew that he didn't want to do it. She started to get upset and pout. Izuku frowned, "What's wrong?"

She looked up at him, looking like tears were about to fall. "I just want to help you!" She extended her arms out dramatically to further express her point. "You told me you're doing this to fix the heroes, right?" He nodded to her question. "Then why can't I help you? It's not a bad goal! You saved me, helped me when I needed help, so why can't I help you when you need help?! It's not fair!"

She stopped her foot on the ground in a fit of sadness and anger. Tears fell from her eyes as well; she just didn't understand the consequences of getting involved. "Izumi, you don't understand the-"

"No!" She interrupted him, surprising the boy. "I do understand! You've told me more than once before you took me here!" She kept crying, taking a deep breath before saying the next part, "You said: 'It's too risky for you to get involved with my work. I don't want you to get in trouble'. I don't care about getting in trouble, I just want to help you!"

She stopped talking, taking the time to catch her breath after letting such an outburst. He was shocked, to say the least. He didn't really expect this much of an argument, "I just really don't think it's right for you to risk getting involved," he started, trying to reason with her. He looked at her pleadingly, "I understand that you want to help, I really do, but what I'm doing isn't exactly... legal."

She tilted her head confusingly at him, like she didn't quite understand what he was saying. "Does that really matter?" Her question worried him, but before he could speak she spoke again. "You saved me, so I know you're a good person." She gave him a smile, which calmed him down a bit. He was still on edge and worried about what she may say next. "You told me that your goal was to fix the hero system. You said there were corrupt heroes or something putting more people in danger and wanted to get rid of them. Isn't that a good goal? As long as you achieve that goal in the end, wouldn't it be better off for the people even though you used questionable methods?"

There it was, her above average vocabulary. She had a way with words that made a lot of what she said convincing. He still had his doubts though. As he thought, he sighed and looked at her, "I get your reasoning, but this isn't something I really don't think you-"

"Even if you say 'no' I'm going to follow you anyway," she suddenly proclaimed surely. "No matter what you say I'm going to help you, whether you like it or not." She crosses her arms defiantly, glaring at him with a message that only strengthened her defiance.

Izuku found himself startled and a tad bit afraid of this girl. He could tell that she wasn't bluffing at all, her stern, defiant and unfaltering glare had already proved that. He considered his options very, very carefully. She already knew the risks of helping him. She was a lot smarter than she looked or seemed and could pick up on information quickly. Of course she was a bit behind the level of others her age, but the fact she could learn as quickly as she could didn't make that a big issue. Izuku estimated he could get her through middle school in a month and high school in two. The point was, she was smarter than she looked and was only going to get smarter from there.

If he said no to her, it was likely she wouldn't care and insist on staying anyway. He figured that, despite his possible numerous attempts to keep her away, she would keep following him and possibly put herself at more risk trying to get involved. Not only that, but he feared what would happen to her mental state if he continuously pushed her away. Fears of possible suicide or something worse came to his mind. It was something he didn't even want to think about nor imagine. Additionally, she may even try drastic things just to prove herself to him, which wasn't something he wanted at all. The last thing he wanted was for her to do something drastic.

If he said yes, then he could always keep an eye on her and teach her what she needs to know. Her schooling would also be easier to manage since she'd likely be in the same place as him most of the time. He could even have her learn how to defend herself or something. Granted it wasn't the best pros he could come up with, but he figured it would be better than denying her and having her situation worsen tenfold.

In the end he ended up giving in. It was for multiple reasons, some of which he'd end up sorting out in the near future. For now though, he spoke to her saying, "Fine, you can help..." he trailed off, enabling her to start getting excited and making her smile grow to inconceivable length." BUT, you will listen to me. You will not act on your own. You will do exactly as I tell you to. If you don't do that or I feel like you can't handle it or that the situation is becoming too risky for you, then I will not let you help anymore."

Despite his warning, the girl was childishly excited about the fact she was actually going to help him. She attached herself to his waist in a tight hug and wouldn't let go, loudly exclaiming how happy she was that he had accepted her. He hugged her back lightly and hesitatingly, unsure as to what he should exactly think. Eventually, she broke away from him with a happy smile on her face. "Does this mean I get my own cool suit too?" She started to do mock punches in the air, "Can I beat up people too?!"

Her excitement both amused and worried him. The fact that she wanted to go beat people up was concerning itself too. He thought about the suit though. Despite how much he really didn't want her to have it, some part of him thought it may actually help her out. He'd pry her for more information first, "Before I say yes or no, tell me, what kind of suit do you want?"

Her question made her tilt her head, "I thought I already said I wanted to be a Scorpion. They're really cool! So are a lot of other animals! Did you know that Scorpions don't even have bones but instead have an exoskeleton made out of chitin, which is a fiber that makes up exoskeletons in arthropods; I know I looked it up to make sure. Oh; did you know that scorpions are arthropods? Their tail is so cool, the way it bends up like that and they use it as a weapon. It's got a really mean stinger on it too that's really venomous so don't touch it. In fact they use venom for both offensive and defensive capabilities. A lot of scorpions use different kinds of venom too, it's so weird and cool. They also have a really tight grip too! Did you also know that-"

'So this is what it feels like to be on the other end of that' Izuku thought to himself as he watched his new sister ramble about scorpion facts. Only now did he realize that she was a lot like him, or what he used to be. He feared that she wanted to be like him too, maybe a little too much. He'd have to sort that out at another time.

"Izumi," he called out, but she still went on. She was caught in her own thoughts, like how he always used to be. If he was being honest with himself, then he'd have to say he was amused. "Izumi!" He called out to her again, this time a little louder so he could get her attention. She actually jumped; blushing as she readjusted herself, making him chuckle. "You really want a scorpion suit?" An excited nod followed. Izuku, facing the facts, could admit that this wasn't an entirely bad idea.

For multiple reasons, the suit itself was actually pretty useful. He would have to work on the designs, but he already had a few ideas for what he could do for it based on the information Izumi had passionately told him about. Actually, he could probably have her be a part of the design process.

"Alright then," he started. Just from those two words her eyes started to light up and glow as bright as the sun. "We can design the suit, then I'll have to see about how to get it made for you and that might-"

"I thought you could make the suit?" She was confused now. He looked shy again, pressing her fingertips together nervously. "I was hoping that you could build it for me."

He sighed; of course she did. Well, he could build the suit himself. It was probably better that way. He didn't even know who his mother had asked to build his suit, so maybe it was better if he did it himself. It would take a long time to do, but he could do it. He theorized that designing the suit itself and its features would only take around a day or two, then maybe a few months to actually build? It could take more or less time depending on the materials that needed to be added and overall design of the suit. It seemed like he was going to have to prioritize automation sooner than he thought if he was going to keep getting sidetracked like this.

"I'll build it for you," he told her, which made her light up again. "There are conditions for this suit though, do you need to hear them or do you already know?"

She should have it drilled into her head by now and if she didn't it should be pretty obvious. She shook her head to show that she didn't need him to rehash the conditions again.

With it still being fairly early in the day, Izuku had decided that they could just start designing her suit then. Of course, Izumi was more than happy to begin then too. Izuku had taken out some extra paper, which was actually quite big, and the two started to go over their ideas.

Izumi had made a lot of things clear when she spoke to Izuku about the suit. Her goal was to be as scorpion-like as possible, so a lot of the features were based on a real scorpion. She wanted pincers, or something like them, that could not only be used to enhance grip but could also be used to scale walls and other surfaces. The tail was also something she really wanted. She requested that it should be able to essentially retract and extend on command, allowing for it to reach further out ahead similar to a real scorpion. Not only that, but she wanted it to be venomous as well. Izuku wasn't sure about that, but if he ultimately decided to add that feature then he had some ideas for it. Money was no problem at the moment, so they could go all-out.

Izumi, being surprisingly flexible, was able to move in weird and almost sometimes unnatural ways. Izuku figured that the suit would need to be flexible and easy to move in, meaning he had to be careful about what they made the suit out of. Izuku wanted it to be armored, mainly for her protection if she ever took it out. He figured a full-body suit would be ideal, something made of Kevlar would do nicely for the heat resistance and protection. Under the outer armor a layer of thick insulation or padding would be beneficial as well. Izuku thought that maybe armor plating was the best option; that way it could be flexible and movable. He would definitely tech-out the armor though, like giving it an EMP shield and making it less vulnerable to electric based attacks. He would also have to give the suit itself some kind of tool assisted maneuverability, because Izumi herself would not be able to move the suit. Additionally he would have to have to program an AI for it and register the suit itself to only respond to either him or her.

The suit itself would have to be powered by something, he just didn't know what. He could give it a really, really powerful battery or something, but that would be too big and vulnerable. A way for it to power through solar energy would be a pretty good extra system, but it shouldn't be the main power supply. He'd figure something out.

The tail, Izumi's favorite part, was next. First off, it needed to be extremely strong and durable. It would be completely made of metal and armor. Izuku determined that the way she could control the tail would be through a link of some kind connected to the muscles of her spinal cord when she put on the suit. He'd have to figure out a way to make the process painless, of course, but that's the only way he could think of having her efficiently be able to control the tail. The tail itself would also be strong enough to use as support, similarly to how the one kid, Mashiro, did it in U.A..

She wanted a curved tip on the end of the tail, which was supposed to be extremely sharp and tipped with any toxin of her choice. Despite Izuku's protests to the idea, she kept begging and giving him the eyes. Oh how weak he was. He really didn't want her killing people unnecessarily and he made sure she knew that before he added what she wanted to the design. She looked offended when he brought that up, saying she'd never harm people like that. She wanted it to shoot acid from somewhere too, so he added a system in the tail so that acid can be shot from the top and refilled at the bottom.

The tail was also, admittedly, going to be Izuku's nightmarish and most complicated work. The rest of the suit wouldn't be too bad, but the tail is a real hassle. The tail itself would need to extend and retract, so he'd need to find materials for that. He wanted the tail to be at a default length of around four feet and then stretch to around twenty. The idea of the tail was that it was supposed to act similarly to a fifth limb, so the spinal cord thing was probably necessary.

After they figured out what they wanted to add, they could make up the design for what it would look like and how it would ultimately function while making necessary adjustments where they were needed.

They did that the next day though, since it had started getting late and both of them were pretty famished with both of them wanting a nice meal from Mama Inko. With Izuku's insane drawing skills and attention to detail, the two of them were able to get a solid design for the suit completed within the span of a few hours. While he was actually in the mood he started to actually gather the materials he would be using to make the suit. This was going to be a long, long process.

The same day, before he started getting materials together, he actually set up Izumi's schooling and had her start it. At first she didn't want to, but Izuku was able to convince her that not only would it help her become smart, but if she completed her courses sooner rather than later she would be able to help out and be with him more. Both of those things seemed to motivate her enough to get to work. It would also be important to note that she was legally allowed to take online schooling with Inko's permission and the fact she had 'official' paperwork.

Her schooling, as of now, would start on a middle school level. She was incredibly smart, but Izuku was unsure as to where the level precisely lay. He had her test out of elementary when he figured out that she had most of the knowledge necessary to do so. If she ended up repeating things she already knew during the middle school classes, then that was fine, at least they were cautious and made sure to cover all of the bases.

Overall, he would be helping manage her schoolwork and time. Inko would have done it but both she and Izuku would admit that she was terrible with that kind of thing. Izuku on the other hand would always be available if she needed help on any subject.

When they had wrapped up for the day, with Izumi having ended her schooling session for the day, she seemed miserable. Like, the tired and upset kind of miserable. When he asked about it when they got home, she told him that she hated school already. He only laughed it off, smiled at her and told her that she'd get through it.

The next day was basically the same as the previous day, with Izumi doing her thing for school and Izuku preparing to make the suit. He had made orders for the specific materials he needed and they would arrive in a few days. He could work with what he had for now though and work his way up, since he did have some of the necessary material. He really, really wasn't looking forward to building the thing.

A few minutes after he finally started working, his phone had started ringing. Curiously, he looked at the caller ID and name. Raising an eyebrow, he answered the call.

"Hey, Kodai. How are you?"

"Izuku," Her response seemed stern. He wondered why she addressed him like that, but after a moment he remembered.

"Oh, sorry, Yui." He apologized, a bit flustered. "I'm just not used to calling people by their given name..."

"Mm." She hummed through the call. He hadn't talked to the girl in a while, or at least since they talked at the beach. He imagined that she probably just needed more time to cool off and ease herself after the raid, which he understood. He wasn't the kind of person to try and reach out on his own either, so he just thought that it would be best to give her some space. "What are you up to?"

"Nothing much," he responded nonchalantly. "I'm just working on a passion project. You never answered my previous question, though. How are you?"

"Mm," she hummed again, almost as if she were thinking. "I could be better, or worse. I'm being forced to see the school counselor and he's been trying to help."

"Has it helped though?" He switched the phone to his other ear as he started to work on something with his hands. "Mentally speaking, how are you holding up?"

"It haunts me sometimes, but it's starting to go away." He supposed that was a good sign.

"Well, that's good I guess," He spoke with unsurity. He didn't really know what else to say about that, or if he even should, so he decided to change the subject. "Say, have you talked to Shinso lately? I haven't talked to him for a while."

"No, I haven't talked to him. I haven't seen him around either." Izuku thought that was a little odd. Maybe Shinso was planning something? Who knows, really. Izuku could snoop in on his business but at the moment he felt like he didn't need to, so he left it be. "What do you think he's up to?"

Izuku chuckled to himself for what he was about to say, "I dunno, maybe he's planning on asking you out and has just been stuck on what you actually liked since you don't really give us any signs."

He heard a scoff from the other side of the phone, "Doubtful. The chance of myself being asked out is little to none. I also don't really want to be asked out."

He hummed in curiosity after that last statement, grabbing the phone again with a free hand to stabilize it next to his ear. "Really? How come?"

"Reasons," was all she said in response to his question. She decided to shift the topic a bit, "Maybe he is planning a surprise birthday party for you."

Izuku laughed at her attempt to make a suitable comeback. "Unlikely. For one, Shinso does not seem like the kind of guy that wants to plan a surprise party. In fact he looks like the kind of person that wants to stay as far as he possibly can from any loud noise or unnecessary interaction. Plus, my birthday passed last July."

"Sorry for not celebrating with you then," her apology came quickly after he mentioned his birthday had passed. He wasn't sure why she was so quick to apologize for something she couldn't control, but he didn't push on it. "What day was it?"

"July 15th. Don't apologize for something I never told you about, you had no control over that." She hummed again in response. "When's yours?"

"December 19th," she responded quickly.

"Ah," Izuku said. "So it's coming up then." Izuku put the phone on speaker for a moment as he picked up and moved a few pieces of metal plates into certain positions. "Got anything planned?" He took it off of speaker and put it back on his ear.

"At the moment, no," she responded honestly. "I think some of my friends want to have a party for me, but I'm not too sure. My cousin definitely does."

Izuku gave a small laugh in amusement, "Sounds like fun, honestly. I never got invited to birthday parties or anything like that. I'd be cool to actually go to one."

"Ditto," she agreed. "If something ends up happening I'll make sure to invite you."

Izuku couldn't help but smile, "Thanks, I really appreciate it."

She hummed again, "Mm." She was silent for a few moments on the other end of the phone. Izuku didn't know what to say either, so he just waited for her to talk while he worked. Eventually, she spoke up again, "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, ask anything." He told her, adjusting a piece of metal and deciding whether or not that's where he wanted it.

"U.A. is holding a school festival soon. Precisely in about two weeks." She informed him, striking his curiosity. "I was wondering if you wanted to come. It's only available to U.A. students though, so I'd have to ask for a visitor's pass for you. I think it'll get approved though if I ask correctly."

Izuku thought about it. Did he want to go? In all honesty, not really. He looked at Izumi, who was trying not to get caught glancing back at him. It would probably be good for her to get out though, maybe talk to a few other people and get a grasp on some new things. It wasn't healthy to always have her cooped up inside the apartment or workshop either, so even having her get outside for a few hours would be pretty good.

"Sure, I can go," he answered her, looking away from his sister and back on his project. "But is it alright if my sister comes as well?"

"Sister?" She questioned curiously. "I don't think you've ever mentioned a sister before."

"Yeah, sorry about that," he apologized. He began to explain, "Our parents aren't really... er, together. She lived with him and I lived with my mom. Something happened over with my dad where she had to come live with us. We don't really know what happened, all we got was a cryptic message from him telling us to pick her up at the airport. She's still a little jumpy, so I think it's better to get her out and stuff for a while." He lies as naturally as he breathed, his voice natural and unchanging as he spoke.

"I see," her voice subtly changed, almost seeming unsure and a bit worried. "Is it something that should involve heroes?"

"No, nothing like that," Izuku assured her. "She was just a little shaken, but she's doing a lot better now. She's fine, seeing a therapist too. I just think I'd be good for her to start getting out a little more and maybe meet a few people. She's not good with people, pretty antisocial, and I thought I'd be good to show her that some people can be really nice," He lied naturally again. "I'm also pretty sure there's nothing that can really be done with affairs outside of the country. At least for most heroes here. Don't worry about it. She wasn't abused or anything, it's probably some emergency with his work and that he needed us to take care of her for a while."

She let out a thoughtful hum before agreeing with his logic. Most heroes from Japan really couldn't do anything for affairs taking place in another country unless it directly affected them. Nezu, the principal of U.A., was actually one of the few people allowed to bypass that rule. "How old is she?"

"Twelve, almost thirteen." He responded. "Her birthday is December 21st."

"Two days after mine," she responded before humming in thought. After a moment, she started to talk again. "It should be fine. I'll ask and message you back later once I get a confirmation. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine." He couldn't help but smile, even though she couldn't see it. "Talk to you later then?"

"Yeah." They hung up the phone after that, with Izuku placing it on a separate desk nearby as he began working on the suit again.

"Who was that?" His sister asked from her seat across the room. She, apparently, was taking a break from the work for now so she could talk to him.

"A friend, I guess," he was actually unsure as to what she was to him. He didn't want to be close to her, but he also felt a magnetic-type pull that just yanked him in. He didn't really have much of a choice other than to refer to her as a friend, since now they were using each other's given names. "She's in hero school, U.A. specifically."

"A U.A. student, really?" She turned around in her seat, facing him. "Are you sure that's a good idea, getting close to one of them?" She pointed to her head, "You've been drilling the fact that this field is dangerous for a while now, so if you're befriending a hero student then you're sort of a hypocrite." She pointed at him to exaggerate her point.

Izuku chuckled, "Yeah, I know." He looked at her, smiling amusedly at his thoughts. "I can't help it, really. There's just something drawing me in there. It doesn't help when you've had no friends for most of your life either." She shrugged after that comment, choosing not to argue about that point. "Don't worry, though." He pointed at her, "You shouldn't have to worry about me getting caught. I'm more concerned with you."

She groaned at his jab and he laughed, "Izu-nii, I'm not going to just tell people stuff!"

He laughed a little more as she developed a cheeked puffed pout. She crossed her arms and looked away, attempting to look upset. She stood up and walked over to her, ruffling her hair. "I know, I was just messing with you. Now," he turned her chair back to her computer, "keep working."

She groaned again in mock irritation, "Fine, just for you Izu-nii." She looked back at him with curious eyes, making him look down to her, "I wonder what this girl is like though, if even you're friends with her."

"I can't tell if that's an insult to myself or her." Izuku held a hand over his heart in mock pain as he gasped, "Is it that hard to believe that I have friends?"

She shrugged, "Somewhat." Brutal honesty hurt, "You're an amazing person, Izu-nii, and I'm grateful you saved me." She smiled at him, making sure that he knew her words were sincere. "It's just... I dunno, with everything that you're doing and making it sound like we should avoid getting others involved."

"That's true," he agreed with her, somewhat surprising her. "But, in a way it can be useful for both of us. For the end goal, our mental health and some other stuff." He smiled down at her, "Try not to worry about it too much. If things get too far, I'll take care of it. Just trust me with this stuff, alright?"

She sort of just looked at him for a moment before turning back to the computer and continuing her work. She did say one last thing, though, "I trust you with my life."

Those words meant a lot to him. Not only had she shown that she really cared for him but now she told him that she trusted him with her life. The fact that anyone, other than his mother, trusted him like that made him feel happier than ever. He wouldn't let her down, he swore it, and he would let her know that, "I won't let you down."

As he started walking back to where he had originally been, Izumi smiled, despite the fact he couldn't see it, and stated loud enough for him to hear: "I know you won't."

They resumed their previous activities after that. About ten minutes after they resumed working on their own, Yui had messaged Izuku to let him know that she got him approved for the festival. He thanked her and the two promised to see one another at the festival.

For the following two weeks everyone did their own thing. Izuku worked on the Scorpion suit constantly and without delay. He wanted to get it done as fast as possible so he could resume his drone production. That didn't mean that he wouldn't make sure that the suit was the best as he could possibly make it though.

At night, once Izumi had fallen asleep, he worked on designs for two other projects. One was the machine he would have to make the drone production automatic. It was something he considered a priority in the future anyway, and if he was going to keep working on other projects like he currently was then getting that done was high on the priority list.

The other one was something entirely new. It was something he wasn't exactly sure he could do, but ended up being excited about it anyway. Completing this project would not only be a significant advancement for him and his skills, but it would also be something he could use to his advantage in the future.

There was also this other thing he was thinking about. He already had the designs for it completed, ever since the Yakuza were arrested anyway. He just didn't think he had the time to build this one. He would have to ask his mother to make another suit again.

He still didn't even know who she had make his own suit, but whoever they were did an amazing job on it. It was a bit tight in some places, a little more snug in others, but overall it was exactly what he wanted. He noted some things to change or add later, but the suit itself was a dream. The dome even materialized into a real, solid object. From the outside looking in you only see a blue-grey swirling mist, but the inside was expertly built with a small interface for the suit's statistics and he could clearly see through it. It was like a one-way effect. When he asked his mother about it, she only smiled and expressed her gratefulness that he liked it.

He had also handed her the design for his other suit he had no time to build himself. She examined his notes and ideas for it. It took a few moments, but she looked up at him and told him that it could be done. She said it may take a while, but it could, in the end, be done.

\---

The two weeks leading up the festival went by smoothly for everyone. Izuku worked on the suit, Izumi worked on her school work, Yui trained with Toshinori on her new move and Katsuki worked to build his relationship with others around him.

The day of the Cultural festival finally came, with Izuku and Izumi both standing outside of U.A.'s campus. He held his sister's hand as they waited for Yui to come and get them, having only arrived a few minutes ago. Izumi wore the device that hid her horn and adjusted some of her other features, making her unrecognizable as Eri.

"I messaged her, she should be here soon." Izuku said to his sister, who nodded and looked away from him. He looked at her concerningly, "Everything alright?"

She shrugged, unsure of herself. She looked up toward him, "I'm not sure. I'm nervous, I guess?" She admitted to him nervously, making him crack a small smile, "I'm concerned. I still don't think this is the best idea."

He chuckled, ruffling her hair. "I'm nervous too." He looked ahead of them, into the campus and toward the school. "I get what you're feeling. A part of me wants to turn back right now, but another part of me doesn't." He looked in another direction, bitterly saying, "He's here too, after all."

Izumi adopted a glare for a millisecond before pushing it away and hugging her brother with the biggest smile she could muster, "Don't worry, Izu-nii!" He looked at her, confused as to why she suddenly changed her demeanor. "We can just ask your friend to avoid him, right? We can do that. From what you said about her she seems considerate enough to understand and not ask questions. If not we can do our own thing or leave."

He sighed, "I guess you're right." He recomposes himself as he and Izumi assume their previous positions. "I'm just a little concerned about it. We shouldn't run into him, but still."

She giggled, amused at his statement. "You were the one that wanted to come, for whatever reason."

He chuckled, also amused at the irony of how things went. "True, true. Sorry I pushed you to come, I just thought I'd be good for you to get out."

She shrugged, "I'm not bothered by it. I know you're trying and that's all that really matters to me." She smiled up at him, causing him to have a smile himself. "I know you suck with social stuff, so it's no problem, really. You're trying, that's what's important."

"To me, I don't think that's enough, but thanks." She gave him a small, one-armed hug before letting go and staring forward again. She had another question to ask, though, so she gently pulled on Izuku's clothes to gain his attention, "What if I see her, or the other one?" He turned his head to face her, seeing her worried face. "They go here too, so what if I see them?"

He smiled at her, "Well, just be nice. Don't do anything rash or compromising. I never said you couldn't be friends with them." She smiled back up, thanking him profusely for allowing her to do that, despite his insistence that he didn't need to be thanked. He told her that if it made her happy, she was allowed to do it. He just told her to be careful with what she said and did with them.

After a few more moments of waiting, Yui and a blonde, skinny man appeared at the gate. "You made it," she smiled at him, with it extending to the smaller girl by his side. "I'm glad you could make it."

He chuckled, "It's nothing, really." He looked down to his side at his sister, who had wide-eyes staring at Yui. He ruffled her hair a little to snap her out of it, making her jump and develop an embarrassed blush. "This is my sister, Izumi."

Izumi rapidly shook her head before bowing politely at a perfect 90 degree angle, "H-Hello! I'm Midoriya I-Izumi!"

Yui actually giggled at the smaller girl's nervousness, extending a hand to shake, "I'm Kodai Yui, it's nice to meet you." Izumi stood up straight, looking at the extended hand for a moment before shyly shaking it.

Izuku realized that his sister was nervous because Yui was probably one of the people she ran into before. Yui too had told him that she had run into Eri sometime before the raid. It was part of the reason Yui was so upset about her failure. Izuku felt bad about keeping the secret from Yui, but at least they could get along this way.

Izuku laughed a little at his sister's antics, "She's a lot like me when I was younger. A nervous wreck and a stuttering problem." Izumi looked at him with an expression of betrayal and feigned an expression of shock and hurt, while also glaring at him. He knew some of those were actually real, though, because he knew that she knew that he knew that Yui had been one of the people to previously encounter her, and that he didn't bother to tell her. So, in the end, she was left completely unprepared for the situation. He didn't think she actually minded though, since he could tell she was happy to see her again.

It took Izuku a moment to notice the other person there with them. Izuku's gaze turned serious, his expression neutralizing as he looked at the man. Toshinori Yagi stood there with a similar expression that Izuku couldn't read, looking at him. Yui and Izumi started to get into their own conversation as the two looked at one another, the girls not noticing the sudden tension in the air. Izuku knew that the man remembered him.

All Might spoke up first, "Young Kodai," he said, interrupting the girl's conversation. "Why don't you and Young Izumi... is it alright if I call you that?" He received a nod in response from the girl, "Why don't you and Young Izumi go on ahead while I speak with Young Izuku for a moment."

Yui looked concerningly between the two as they looked at one another, now sensing the tension between them. "Is everything okay?" She asked, looking at Izuku for a confirmation.

Without looking at her, he responded, "Everything's fine, we just want to talk for a minute." He looked at his sister, who also looked at him worriedly and with a tad bit of fear. "You can go with Yui if you want, Izumi," he told her, developing a small smile, "I'll catch up in a bit, okay?"

She looked at him worriedly, then at All Might, then back to him, then to Yui who looked back at her. Izumi nodded at the girl and the two started to head inside toward the festival. Before they went fully inside though, both girls glanced back at Izuku with worried eyes.

All Might waited until they fully went inside to the festival before he approached Izuku. He looked to the side, a bit guiltily as he spoke, "I'm sorry, Young Izuku."

Izuku was surprised at what All Might had just said, his expression greatly showing that with wide-eyes and a semi-agape mouth. He apologized to him? He didn't expect that.

"I was harsh on you, I'm sorry." He bowed his head, attempting to show the sincerity in his apology. "I crushed your dream, I realized that. I can't even imagine what you felt that day, or what happened throughout your life. I deeply apologize for being so harsh."

Izuku stared at him, who kept bowing, in shock still. Izuku kept staring at him for a few moments, but he eventually just sighed and held up his hands. "All Might, please raise your head."

The man seemed a tad surprised, but obliged nonetheless. He stood up straight before going into a coughing fit. Izuku was going to try and pat his back or something, but the man raised his hand to stop him.

"I appreciate your apology," Izuku spoke truthfully, looking at the frail man in front of him. Izuku hung his head, "You're a great hero, I'm sure you had plenty of reason to say that." All Might hung his head as well. After a moment, the two rose their heads to look at each other again. Izuku spoke up again, "You can't change what happened in the past. Now, we can't change what will happen in the future. It's alright."

All Might sighed, obviously not buying Izuku's lackluster attempt at saying 'everything's fine'. Still though, All Might relented and backed down. He didn't want to push this conversation more than he needed to, nor did he want to bug the boy about it. Izuku was thankful he didn't, either. If All Might had decided to push the conversation further he likely would've gotten more annoyed.

Still though, what Izuku did say to him was true. There wasn't nothing anyone could do to change anything, past or future. Though, the future was concerning. A particular hero would be a problem, he'd have to look into it later.

"Very well," All Might laid a hand upon Izuku's shoulder. "How have you been? I hope life has been treating you right."

Izuku smiled at the man, "It's been going pretty smoothly. I feel like I'm moving up a little in life." His expression seemed to shift into one of concern, looking the man up and down, "How about yourself? When we first met your health already wasn't the best, now after that fight you had..."

"Yeah, that was rough." He grimly admitted, taking his hand off of Izuku's shoulder and looked to the side. "I'm effectively retired now, unable to hold the muscle form for more than a few seconds. Other than that, I believe I'm doing quite well."

Izuku smiled toward him, "That's good to hear."

After a moment, the frail man who used to be All Might motioned toward the inside of the gate, "Shall we head inside? I'm sure your sister and friend are eager for you to join them."

Izuku nodded in agreement as they both entered the gates. Though he was still nervous, and despite the fact that everything was already doing alright, he felt like he needed to make it through. This was something he wanted to do for his new sister. He felt like she needed this and, in a way, he did too.

He didn't know what to think at the moment, either. This apology from All Might was unexpected. He didn't know what to make of it. He would have to ponder on it later.

\---

Katsuki was pissed off. Like, incredibly pissed off.

First, the class sent him, him, of all people to go and look for Neutral Face so she could help with the final preparations. Apparently since he, quote, "wasn't doing anything important", he should be the one to look for her.

He really disliked the girl, borderline hated. He didn't understand why he should have to listen to the class's insistence, but he did anyway. Maybe it's because he was becoming less of an asshole? He'd realized that after someone had complimented him on how nice he was being.

Still, he just wanted to chill somewhere and relax. He wanted to just sit until the more exciting games became available to play. He was still upset that his Death Match suggestion had been rejected, but thankfully there were still other games that he could aggressively compete in, otherwise he'd be bored out of his mind.

Here's where he got even more pissed off. While looking for Neutral Face, he had taken the liberty to scout some of the other attractions in the festival. There were actually a lot of interesting ones, like a Maze Race, where the competitors raced to collect a bunch of items before time ran out, and an Obstacle Course.

The problem was that he apparently was infringing in Class 1-B's precious space and the blonde, snobby guy, Monoma, got upset. He started bloating at how much better they compared to 1-A and outright insulting him.

Katsuki, despite his best efforts, then got into a shouting match with the brat. It would have gotten physical, but Uraraka came in and forcefully knocked Monoma out.

"Sorry about him, he's a bit..." she trailed off, her eyes moving toward the side.

"A narcissist, asshole, playboy, fuckface, egotistical little shit?" Katsuki happily finished for the girl.

She pointed at him, "Yeah, those. I heard you say them to him earlier though, but a lot meaner with a lot of extra words attached."

Katsuki smirked proudly as Uraraka and a few other Class B students drug the blonde away. Then he continued his stupid search for the person he hated the most.

After his run-in with the Class B students, it actually didn't take him much longer to find who he was looking for. Neutral Face, along with another girl he couldn't quite recognize from where he was, seemed to be just walking into the actual festival.

He scowled in annoyance as he began to walk toward them. As he got closer though, the girl she was with started to make his mind race. From appearance alone she looked like him. The closer he got, the more apparent the similarities became. He felt a pit in his stomach, but he just ignored it as he approached them.

"Neutral Face," he balled out, his voice surprisingly tame. She turned to look at him, actually confused about his tone of voice. It confused even him, but he chalked it up to him being bored and just not up to raising his voice anymore.

"Bakugo," she said back to him. "What do you need?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the girl next to Neutral Face react. It only lasted a moment, before going away. Her expression adopted the friendliest smile he probably ever saw, actually similar to... his, in a way. It was... almost unreal, fake, an illusion to mask over her true feelings. Just like what he used to do.

Katsuki didn't visibly react, but he felt something on the inside. He didn't know what to make of it yet, "The class wants you back to finish preparations or something. The assholes thought that it would be best that I come and get you." He looked at the girl now, a questioning look in his eyes, "Who are you supposed to be? This festival is supposed to be U.A. students only and you don't look like you're even our age."

The girl's smile seemed to go wider, somehow. Neutral Face was going to respond, but the girl quickly shot her hand forward before she had a chance to speak. It was in a position for Katsuki to shake, which surprised him. "I'm Izumi, nice to meet you!"

Izu- what? His eyes widened as he thought about what the girl had said. He had to have heard wrong, there was no possible way for this girl to be related to him. There just wasn't! But... the looks, the smile, the name- it all was just too much to be a coincidence. The pit in his stomach grew as he hesitantly extended his hand to shake hers.

The moment their hands made contact, Katsuki felt something. He felt the pit in his stomach become a never ending black hole, consuming himself with it. He felt hollow.

But he also never felt more scared in his life. The moment their hands touched, Katsuki felt the raw sinister intent. He could see behind the smile. He could see her real emotions and feelings. She hated him. She wanted to hurt him. She knew him and knew what he did.

He could feel himself sweating as he processed his emotions. That smile, that damned smile. It looked innocent, yet behind it was something truly frightening. It shook him to his core.

He let go of her hand after a few seconds, starting to sweat profusely. He felt sick. He felt tired. He felt... he didn't even know what he felt at this point. His breathing subtly increased, but not enough for either of the girls to notice. He stared absentmindedly at the girl as she continued to smile at him. She knew full well that he picked up her intent, and he knew that she was purposely directing it all at him. When he looked at her, he saw something straight out of horror; something truly terrifying. The amount of absolute hate, disdain and intent directed at him was intense and piercing. He didn't know what to do; he froze.

This girl knew what he did, she knew him, and she wanted him to pay a terrible price. That was the message he got, on a lighter scale as to how it was actually received.

Neutral Face finally spoke up again, "I won't be going back to the class for now. I have guests here that I want to help. I'll be back before they start to do my part." He wasn't really paying attention, and she noticed how he started to subtly shake and how his sudden sweating had increased. "Bakugo, are you feeling alright?"

Katsuki put a hand to his forehead and wiped some sweat off of his face. He became aware of the fact that he was shaking too. "Y-Yeah, I'm good." He stuttered, making the girl who asked severely doubt that. "I just feel a little sick. I'll tell them you'll be back at some point before the thing starts. I'm going back to the dorms after that... I feel sick."

She tilted her head in confusion and a bit of worry, "Are you sure? You look terrible. Maybe you should see Recovery Girl. Do you need help getting there?"

"I said I'm fine- aargh!" His head started pounding suddenly, making him clench it. Everything was too much for him right now, he needed to leave.

Leave he did, immediately turning around and getting out of there as fast as he possibly could. First he would tell the class she wasn't going to arrive, then he was going back to the dorms. He didn't even feel like doing anything at the festival anymore; he felt too sick. This would pass with time, he was sure of it. Still though, everything was painful in more ways than one to feel. He needed to be alone for a while and think.

As he left, nobody noticed how the green haired girl, who had previously been giving a friendly smile, had started glaring in the direction Katsuki had gone in, anger and disdain clear in her eyes.

\---

After Katsuki had left both of them, who had been looking in the direction he had left in, took a minute to recuperate themselves. When Yui turned toward the smaller girl next to her, Izumi's expression was still cheerful and upbeat.

Yui looked at her curiously, with the other girl looking back at her with similar thoughts. Yui decided to ask, "Has anything caught your interest?"

Izumi took a moment to think to herself, trying to decide on something she found interesting or wanted to do while glancing around the area. Some of the things wouldn't open until a little later due to some of the major events being early on in the festival, so they were a little limited on what they could do or go to. Eventually, her eyes landed on a booth of candy and Izumi promptly requested to go there.

The two went over to the booth and browsed the options. Yui didn't have much of a sweet tooth herself, but she was open to a little bit of candy now and then. Izumi, though, seemed to be the epitome of someone with a sweet tooth. The girl wanted one, or more, of everything in the booth.

The person running the booth was a second year girl, who had been kind enough to actually fulfill her request. In the end, the two of them left the booth with a few bags of candy and Izumi happily humming in victory.

The two began to browse a little more, but they hadn't found anything too particularly interesting. Most of the stuff was still closed until later, after all.

"Oh, I see you found the candy." A voice said behind them, causing them to turn around. Izuku started to approach them, a small smile on his face. "Sorry about her, I hope she wasn't any trouble. She has quite an appetite for candy."

The girl in question quickly snapped her head toward him while sucking on a lollipop. "I do not!" He raised a brow, gesturing to the bags of candy she currently carried. She sighed, "Fine, I like candy."

"'Like' is a word that doesn't even come close to being accurate to your level." Izuku laughed a little, seeing his sister mock a hurt expression.

Yui even let out a small giggle herself, greatly surprising the green haired boy. She was amused at their sibling antics and couldn't help but let it out, "You two have quite the bond."

The two looked at her, smiling happily, "Well we were stuck together for a while. We opened up to each other a lot and, well, we got closer because of it."

Izumi nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah, we're really close now because of that." She looked at him, still smiling, "He's done a lot for me and I wouldn't want to trade him for anything."

He looked at her, somewhat surprised she said that out loud and so confidently, not to mention she even said it at all. Though, he was happy she felt that way. He felt the same way.

Yui felt absolutely touched by that, finding it really cute and amazing at how much of a bond the two shared, but her face didn't really show her emotions. On the inside, along with the happiness she had for the two of them, lay a smudge of envy. She wanted a relationship like that too, with a close friend, preferably with the first one she ever had. She shook the thoughts and feelings away, though, as they started to explore around a little more.

As they browsed, Yui's phone rapidly vibrated in her pocket. Curiously, she took it out to view what had been sent, only to find 50+ missed messages and a few missed calls. She deadpanned at her phone, completely baffled as to how she had missed so many things. The most recent call was from Kendo, who she had recently given her number to on the basis of completing a school project, not to mention the fact they were actually progressing in their friendship.

She decided to call Kendo back, excusing herself from the siblings as she called the number. It rang a few times, but after a few seconds she picked up, "Kodai? Where are you? We've been trying to get in contact with you for over an hour! Then Bakugo tells us you're busy... you know, it's fine, never mind. Still, where are you?"

Yui was amused at how much Kendo had gotten herself worked up, but nonetheless looked around her area so she could determine her location. It seemed that they ended up looping back toward the school gates, but still in festival limits. "I'm by a few booths next to the gates."

"What? Why are you there! Forget it, can you run out real quick and grab an electrical part, or something? What was it called again?" Her voice seemed further away from the phone as she asked someone the question. She came back a moment after getting the answer, "A conductor or something for the electrical panel. One of the things broke and we can't find any replacements. Nobody can find Power Loader anywhere and the people in the Support Department are too busy finishing up to help us. We're on the other side of the building, so we can't make it to any store in time, not that anyone knows where a store is around here. Can you pick something up or see if there's something around?"

Yui mentally face palmed. She had no knowledge regarding electrical components or engineering. Not an ounce of it. It didn't interest her. She thought Kendo knew that, but it wasn't a big deal. They were probably desperate to get a replacement part before the show started, so that was probably why they called her. It seemed like nobody even knew if there was a store nearby and since she was closer to the gates they figured that she could scout the area. They were a riot, that was for sure.

She looked toward the two siblings, who were currently engaging in a small conversation. She figured that she could ask them if they had any knowledge of that kind of thing. She approached them again, still on the phone, which grabbed their attention, "Do any of you know your way around engineering and electrical equipment?"

Izuku seemed surprised for a moment before almost shyly raising his hand in the air, "I do, actually. What's the problem?"

"Something broke on an electrical panel, like a conductor or something." She listened as Kendo spoke into her ear again, "Yeah some kind of wire and a small wire- no, a few of them. Red, green, and white respectively. They broke or tore and now the panel isn't working."

He sighed, "You need it fixed?" She nodded, "How long until your thing starts?"

"About forty minutes or so now." Yui looked at him somewhat questionably, "Do you know of any stores nearby that sell them?"

He nodded, "Yeah, I do. It's not a bad store. I'd be easier for me to go myself, since the directions can be a bit confusing and you can end up walking right past it. Just send me a picture of what the panel looks like and what the wires were attached to and I'll be able to sort them out."

Yui decided not to argue against that, asking Kendo to send her the pictures he requested. Although Kendo was curious about who Yui had been talking to, even outright asking who it was, Yui didn't grace Kendo with a response. Yui knew that she'd get talked to about it later but that was neither here nor there.

Once Izuku received the pictures, he was ready to go. Yui got his attention again, though, "Would you like me to come along?"

He smiled at her, grateful that she wanted to come, but shook his head, "You don't have to, there's not really a point in you coming, no offense."

"None taken, I'm not experienced with that kind of thing and wouldn't enjoy being there anyway." Izuku smiled. It was mainly because he realized that, despite the fact she wouldn't enjoy going, she wanted to come in case he needed any help. It was nice and sweet of her, something he admired in a person. He realized that he's probably thought that, like, five different times already. Yui spoke again, "I should probably stay by the gate to let you back in anyway, since we forgot to give you a visitors pass."

Izuku nodded in agreement, with Izumi excitedly looking at him, "Can I come too, Izu-nii?"

He looked at her, amused at his sister's needless excitement, "Sure," he looked toward Yui, "You don't mind, do you?"

She shook her head, "Not at all, I'm not offended or anything. I'll be fine on my own for a bit."

With that Izuku and Izumi went off to the hardware store nearby.

\---

The two speed walked to the hardware store in a hurry. Izuku didn't exactly know why Izumi wanted to tag along, but she seemed, for the most part, happy. He was glad.

When they had gotten there, it didn't take long for Izuku to discern what he specifically needed, using his own knowledge and the pictures he was sent earlier. While in the line for checkout, Izuku decided to make some conversation.

He looked at her, "So, how are you enjoying the festival so far?"

She looked up at him, a small smile gracing her lips before she spoke, "It's actually been fun so far." She began to tell him a little bit about what Yui and her did before he met up with them.

"I take it you like her?" He asked, genuinely curious as to what his sister thought of his friend.

She started to become a little shy, nodding a single time, "Yeah, she's really kind. She seems supportive and understanding. You picked a good friend, Izu-nii."

He smiled at her. He was glad that she thought that Yui was a good person, because he couldn't agree more. Izuku knew that she previously encountered her, along with another hero in training, while she had been with Overhaul, but the meeting was incredibly brief. Though, from what she told him, she felt safe in Yui's arms and that they wouldn't let her go. Unfortunately though, she did, but only because of the other hero's insistence.

Izuku was upset about that, actually. Not necessarily at Yui, but at the other hero that could clearly see something was wrong but just tossed her back to the villain. When he first heard about this encounter, he had been rightfully pissed off. He researched Nighteye's agency, looking at schedules, names and more to try and pinpoint who exactly that imbecile was. Turns out, it was another U.A. student, Mirio Togata, hero name Lemillion.

The guy himself was actually a problem, in Izuku's own book. His Quirk especially, Permeation, was going to be something he needed to take care of. Lemillion was a threat, a big one, so he would really need to think about what he should do with him. Perhaps isolate him somehow, then disable him, but the process in which he could even do that was incredibly frustrating to figure out.

Another huge threat he needed to worry about was the hero Lemillion was interning under, Sir Nighteye. His Quirk, Foresight, was yet another pain in the ass. A right look into the future and everything would end up crumbling down. He respected Nighteye greatly, he had his rough edges, but he was a good hero. Even if that was the case, he needed to get him out of the way.

Though, unlike Lemillion, he had some ideas on how he could deal with Nighteye. He didn't want him dead, neither did he want Lemillion dead, just disable them or get them out of the way. He would have to get into contact with someone; he would try later tonight.

Somehow, he also thought about All Might. He didn't quite know what to think of the man now. After he retired, Izuku researched him a little more under his real name, Yagi Toshinori. The man was just like him, once upon a time. A Quirkless loser that wanted to be a great hero. He was a late bloomer, so to speak, and Izuku figured his late development of a Quirk was due to One for All. Izuku couldn't help but think that the man was a massive hypocrite.

Even though he was a hypocrite, Izuku still respected the man. During his time as a hero, All Might not only saved countless people, prevented bigger threats from rising and defeated one of the deadliest villains in history. Aside from that, he was a genuinely good man; Izuku could see that when he spoke to him at the gates earlier. He also knew that the man really didn't mean to be as harsh as he did when they spoke on the roof; though, Izuku still hated the fact he was so careless about it.

There were problems with the man; some things that he could really work on, but ultimately Izuku didn't actually hate him. He wasn't in his shit list, like some other people were, but he wasn't on his best list either. He sort of fell in the middle of all that, and Izuku didn't really mind.

It didn't take too long for the line to shorten and for the siblings to checkout, after that. The two began to head outside, Izuku carrying the bag with the necessary items. They had a little bit to get back, around twenty minutes to get back, but as a precaution they chose to pick up their pace.

As the two began to run back they two almost ran into two other individuals who were wearing odd clothes. After a single look at them, Izuku grew sceptical. It was something he felt, something a bit off about them. He'd test the waters a bit.

"Excuse me," he simply stated. "I wasn't watching where I was going, sorry about that."

Izumi, who was next to him, looked at him oddly as he performed a slight bow for a few seconds. It took her that same time to realize what he was doing and copied his action. The both of them put on a friendly smile as they waited for the other two to respond.

The man held up a hand to show that everything was alright, "Do not worry, no harm done." He performed a bow of his own, "We appreciate the apology, but I must recommend that you watch where you are going from now on; you were about to ruin the aftertaste of the Gold Tips Imperium."

'A special tea?' Izuku thought to himself, eyeing the two in front of him. Izumi looked like she was thinking about something, also eyeing the two. When Izuku looked at them, they seemed like high-class people. However, some of their clothing options don't make much sense. Izuku got an intense feeling like they were disguises of some sort. The man seemed shaken too, like he was nervous. There was also an itch in the back of his mind that made him think that he knew them from somewhere.

Izuku never responded to the man, due to being lost in thought, so he decided to talk again, "Come, let us go, L- Honey..."

"Honey?!" The extremely short one exclaimed, shocked yet happy. "Yes, I'm Honey!"

As the two turned their backs toward the siblings, Izuku's eyes narrowed. He thought more intently, trying to remember where exactly he knew these people from; the itching in his head just wouldn't go away. The girl seemed surprised to be called "Honey", like she's never been addressed as that before. In fact, the man corrected himself from addressing her as something else. They were in a hurry to leave too, the way he had been going, toward U.A..

The strangers were walking further away when Izumi pulled on his sleeve to get his attention. When he turned to look at her, the expression on her face seemed worried. She motioned him to lean his head closer, as he did, and she whispered in his ear, "Gentle Criminal and La Brava."

Ah, so that's where he knew them from. Izuku resumed his old position, moving away from his sister as he looked at the criminals ahead of him, still walking away. After she told him that, he could totally see how they were the same people; they held a lot of similarities to the ones seen online.

He and Izumi had seen a video with him in it, once. Actually, it had been only a week ago. The two of them, after being in the workshop all day, decided to take some time to themselves by enjoying a bit of online entertainment. The video had popped up automatically, due to their failure to click on another video or move off of the page. Out of pure curiosity, the two had watched the video.

On a side note, during that time, he found out that Izumi greatly enjoyed things like video games and sci-fi stuff. He wasn't sure if he'd accidentally gotten her hooked on those things, but he was happy to know someone who enjoyed them.

Izuku wasn't too particularly impressed with the man's villainous efforts. At first glance, he seemed like an ordinary criminal trying to make their name more widely known. However, his story was much more complicated than that.

Izuku had done his own research on the man known to the world as 'Gentle Criminal'. From the videos he watched the man tended to avoid direct confrontation with any person or hero, usually using his Quirk as a means to escape rather than attack. Izuku already found that interesting, since most criminals out there aren't openly nonviolent.

Izuku took the liberty of searching even further into the man's past and identity. He had originally been a hero course student, Danjuro Tobita. He had apparently been removed from the Hero Course because he hindered a pro hero from saving someone, despite his good intentions of helping.

His personality was complicated as well. He seemed to lack a lot of insight before acting, which is something that can be incredibly dangerous depending on the situation, like hindering the pro hero despite his good intentions. There are other instances in which this is the case, but more were more severe than others. Izuku considered what he was about to do as well. If Izuku was correct, then he was heading right toward U.A. to possibly sneak inside and do something. That action would have major consequences and he didn't even realize it.

Unlike most people, Izuku believed that he could be turned away from his current path. He may not be able to become a full-fledged hero at the moment, but he could be swayed to the side of being a better person. If he refused that path, however, insisting that he wished to continue his criminal life, Izuku had other options for him. He would have to see how the man thought and acted to reach a definitive conclusion.

It was time to test the waters a little more. There were no cameras or anything nearby, with no hero agencies nearby U.A., not to mention the streets were entirely clear; he'd be okay with what he was about to do. "Please, wait a moment," The two froze at Izuku's call to them, "Gentle Criminal." They stood in place, the little one looking up toward the taller man with a look of worry.

The man took his glasses off, as well as his mask, turning around to face the siblings. Izumi started to get worried, looking at her brother questionably. She wondered what exactly his plan was, but in response to her gaze he just handed her the bag. "Izumi, go back to the school and give this to Yui. If they need help hooking it up, just tell them what to do. Don't get seen by the whole class." The two ahead of them looked at Izuku intently. They were tense and ready to attack if need be, but they seemed more coy and defensive than anything. He made sure to add one last thing to the list for her to do, "Make sure you tell nobody about this little encounter. Tell them I got held up by something; I trust you to make up a decent reason. I'll try to be back before the show starts."

Izumi reluctantly took the bag and dashed away, back to the gates. As she ran, she looked back at her brother with a worried gaze, but continued on anyway. The two criminals ahead of him eyed the girl, but didn't attack. They looked back at him, "You told her not to speak of this, why?" The man said, confused. "You know who I am, so why?"

Izuku smirked, his confidence in this confrontation clearly showing. "Don't worry so much about that, GTI_Lover42."

He was taken aback a bit, sweating profusely as his face showed one of intense shock, "That my- I only used that once on-" he glared at Izuku, even more on-guard than before. "Who the hell are you?"

Izuku gave a lighthearted laugh, amused at the criminal's response, "It has been a while. You once asked me for advice on how to escape a few particular heroes." He shrugged, "I saw the video, actually. It wasn't bad work, but it could certainly be improved."

He took a step back, and so did the girl. Their expressions carried a vast number of things, but the main things Izuku saw were shock, surprise and most of all... fear. They were scared of him.

"Y-You're him? Impossible!" He leaned forward, glaring at the smirking boy ahead of him. "You're merely a small child. You cannot be the man most of the villain community respects and fears."

Izuku's smirk increased, "You have no idea what I can do." At the snap of his fingers, multiple dots appeared on Gentle's body, with a few on La Brava as well. They yelped in fear, with Gentle ready to use his Quirk to defend himself. Izuku noticed this and decided to speak, "I wouldn't do that. Your Quirk, Elasticity, could end up doing more harm than good for you here. Don't bother. In fact, I merely wish to speak."

Gentle stopped what he was doing, looking back at Izuku with an analytical gaze, "Very well. I shall listen to your demands."

Izuku smiled as he called off the lasers, making them disappear from the two's bodies. They visibly eased themselves, most likely out of relief that the standoff had cooled down, but they still looked at Izuku worryingly. "I'm glad you're open to discussion."

Gentle wasted no time in asking, "Most of the villain community is scared of you. I've read the forums online, as well as some of the more questionable ones solely meant for other villains." He uncomfortably directed his gaze to the side, "You are known for your secrecy, wit and overwhelming analytical skill and intelligence. Why reveal yourself to mere low-tier criminals such as us?"

He was confused, which Izuku could understand. What Gentle said wasn't wrong either, he had ended up making quite the name for himself online. Villains in particular spoke about him, fearing or respecting him for what he did. Rumors were spreading, he didn't know from where, that he had been the one to kill Overhaul, which was just even more icing on the cake for his reputation. The police have also been clever enough to somehow make a connection, though he still wasn't sure how. He'd had to be more careful from then on.

"Because, Gentle, my friend, I see some potential in you." He clapped his hands a bit dramatically, all while smiling at the man.

"Potential?" He was even more confused now, unsure as to what he meant. Gentle Criminal's sweat was still intense; he was nervous and on edge. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that you, Gentle Criminal, can change," he said simply, surprising the man. "Before I say anything about myself, answer me this: what is your opinion on heroics?"

The white haired man and the red haired girl both raised a brow at the question, clearly not expecting it. Gentle thought for a moment before saying, "My opinion has swayed over the years. The only thing I may say is that being a good hero depends on actions and heart."

Izuku looked at him quizzingly, admittedly a bit unsure as to what he should do next. In the end he came to a decision, but he needed to ask something first, "I figure that opinion comes from experience?"

He glared at Izuku in a defensive manner, "I do not like to remember some parts of my past."

"Don't worry, Gentle, or should I call you Dankuro Tobita?" Izuku poked them a little with that, causing them to jump a little in surprise. The man was about to say something, but Izuku started to speak again before he had a chance to say it, "I know about your past already. Former hero course student, with your expulsion being exceptionally upsetting."

At the mention, the two were undoubtedly more afraid than before. Not only did the boy know their criminal identities, no, but he knew who they were. He knew their names, backgrounds, and probably a whole lot more. They could just tell that he knew, just from that tease of knowledge he had already given them.

Izuku laughed, "My apologies, it was not my intention to put you on edge. I just wished to know if your statement came from experience, is all."

Gentle narrowed his eyes, slowly nodding his head, "it does. When I was a student, I actively thought that heroics was more about heart than anything. My own light has been shifted since then, so I do not hold the same candle as others do, but I still believe in that."

Izuku nodded in response to the statement. Admittedly, it was a good response and something he had been truthfully looking for. He had been unsure as to what the man would actually say, since his villain persona now focused more on publicity and image. He thought that due to that, his perception of heroes should be similar, but he was glad to be wrong.

Izuku thought for a moment, considering his next actions before saying, "I have one more question for you." Gentle nodded, giving Izuku permission to ask what he wanted, "If given the opportunity to restart your life. Records erased, no criminal record, just an opportunity to be a normal citizen, would you take it?"

He was unsure as to how he should respond, putting a hand to his chin in thought. He glanced at his partner, La Brava, who looked back at him with a worried, fearful and questioning look in her eyes. After a minute, he looked back at Izuku, "I'm sorry, but I would not take that. La Brava and myself have worked up to where we are now. I do not wish to give that up. There is nothing to go back to, anyway."

Gentle seemed a bit downcast after explaining his reasoning. From what Izuku got from his research, Gentle didn't have the best ordinary life. His parents hated him, he had bad luck with work and overall his life was just plain depressing. This was sort of his escape from that, and he and La Brava seemed to have fun doing it as well. Izuku could understand why he chose to answer the way he did. If Gentle had said that he would take it, Izuku would have willingly helped him out, but that wasn't the case anymore.

Izuku nodded, "I see," his face changed to one of curiosity and thought, considering the next couple of options. Gentle Criminal, while he wasn't the right person to be on his assembling team, could still be very useful. "How would you like to help me?"

He raised a brow, "Help you? What might you be referring to?"

Izuku held a hand out to his side, for unknown reasons, "Consider it association status. You will sort of work under me, but it's not like a full-time job." He started to explain, making Gentle curious. "You and your partner can still continue doing your own thing, with limitations to how far you can go, of course, and when I call on you I expect you to be there."

Gentle seemed to ease a bit, most likely because of the offer. He considered the question for a moment before expressing one of his doubts, "Why us? We're, as of right now, mere low-tier criminals compared to yourself and people like the League of Villains. What is so special about us that makes you offer that kind of position?"

Izuku smiled, "The two of you have your own unique set of skills, particularly in escaping most situations you're in. Infiltration is another useful skill you two possess. Both are useful in their given situations."

"I see," he responded, mostly understanding his reasoning. He and La Brava were professional escapists, as they've been called on more than a few occasions, so he could see and understand. Though, the fact that he was allowing the two to continue their videos made him a bit skeptical, "What are the catches? What kind of operations do you want us to perform?"

Izuku chuckled at the first question, "There really isn't a catch. If you want, I can pay you a little bit after you do something for me." He shrugged, " Like I said, you can continue doing your online streams and videos, I don't much care. However, I'll have to set limitations for you: like staying out of U.A.." The two criminals looked shocked for a moment, ready to rebuttal Izuku's statement, but the boy spoke again, "It is important to stay under the radar. Your capture is something I do not want, first and foremost, so small operations for your streams are optimal." It was a simple explanation, but reasonable enough to make the two quiet. Izuku continued, "Additionally, you just think of the consequences before you start acting. U.A. is already in a rough spot, so infiltrating their campus now is not the best idea. They're on edge, alarmed, ready to act if necessary; so not only would you be captured and imprisoned, but U.A. will likely have to deal with the situation in ways that could hinder the future of both the school and the students there."

Gentle Criminal's mouth went agape after he said that, truly surprised at the notion that was being suggested. He closed his mouth, pondering what was said. He never truly considered that. He didn't truly want to affect the school or students that badly, being a former Hero Course student himself. He was being too selfish, trying to put his dream ahead of what the world truly needed: competent heroes.

"I do understand that you wish to put your name in the history books, Gentle," Izuku spoke again, getting his attention again, "but I assure you that sneaking into U.A. will not grant you that. Perhaps you'll get a mention on the news, or a few articles written, but that's about it."

Gentle Criminal looked downcast, truly saddened at his recent realization. Tears actually formed in his eyes as he sniffled. La Brava noticed this and tried to comfort him while glaring at Izuku for hurting her beloved. After a little bit, Gentle looked up at Izuku with a serious look on his face, "I'll help you."

Izuku smiled genuinely at the man, clapping his hands together once to signify his pleasure at the news. "Wonderful, I'm glad to have you on board, Gentle!"

Izuku approached the two, sticking his hand out for the taller man to shake. Albeit hesitantly, Gentle shook the extended hand, causing Izuku to smile more.

The two moved their hands away from one another. They had mutually agreed to a partnership, or association. After standing almost awkwardly for a few moments, Izuku looked at the time on his phone and looked up at the taller man, "Well, Gentle, it's been a pleasure, but I really do have to go. I'll message you later, the same place we spoke a while ago to exchange private contact information with you. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

Izuku began to walk past them and back toward U.A., with only a little bit of time left until the event started. He had received two text messages while talking with Gentle, one from Izumi and another from Yui. Yui had basically thanked him and told him that they fixed what they needed to fix, as well as that Izumi would be at the gates for him with her pass to let him in. Izumi had told him that she arrived safely and gave the stuff to Yui, but also expressed her worries and asked him to be careful. He smiled at his sister's worriedness, pocketing his phone and heading for U.A., planning to just talk to her in person.

"Wait a moment, please," a voice behind him stated, making him stop walking. Curiously, he turned around to face Gentle, who had been the one to ask him to wait. "Surely you don't plan on just... leaving?" He was confused, unsure, scared... Izuku didn't really blame him. "After all, we saw what you look like, who you are; you're not going to take any precautions for that?"

Izuku smiled. That just proved that Gentle wouldn't spill his secret, but he would still confirm anyway. "Do you, though?" Izuku turned around to face them, their faces confused. "Are you sure I look like this?" Izuku smirked, his appearance beginning to change. The two criminal's mouths opened wide in shock as Izuku took the appearance of one Katsuki Bakugo. "I can be anyone." He changed again, this time to resemble an older man with blonde hair and a scar going vertically down his forehead. "You don't even know my name." Izuku changed back to his original appearance, which was actually his normal one, but they didn't know that.

The two criminals were understandably shocked and confused, not to mention afraid. They had no idea as to what they were dealing with, and that amused Izuku. He turned his back to them again, starting to walk away.

Though, he stopped walking one more time, glancing back at them, "I trust that you won't tell anyone of this encounter?" The two of them shook their heads, recognizing the serious gaze in the boy's eyes. "Good, then I'll be off." He started walking again, sending a backward wave to them.

The two watched him leave; once he was out of sight they turned to each other and let out a breath of air they didn't even know they were holding. La Brava turned to her beloved, "Are you sure this is a good idea, Gentle?"

He looked at her, then to where Izuku had left. "I'm not sure," he admitted. "That encounter... I felt scared for my life, like I could die at any moment, despite knowing he wasn't going to. I don't know why." La Brava nodded, agreeing with his assessment of the encounter. She had felt the same way.

\---

Izuku made it back to the school gates to find Izumi waiting for him. Upon seeing him, her eyes lit up as she ran toward him. She envelopes him in a tight embrace, tears coming from her eyes. "Don't scare me like that again, you idiot."

He chuckled, rubbing her back in small circles to help calm her down. "Sorry, I needed to do that. I'll try not to worry you again."

The two separated. Izumi glared up at her brother, a small pout on her face. "You better not, Izu-nii!" He playfully laughed at the face she was making, causing her to frustratedly, but lightly, hit his stomach with her fists. She stopped, though, coming to a realization, "Izu-nii," she started, catching his attention, "what did you even do?"

He closed his eyes, remembering the encounter. He opened them after a few seconds, motioning her to follow him inside. "I'll tell you later, for now we have a show to catch, right?"

She groaned in annoyance. "That's not fair, Izu-nii! I wanna know!"

She pouted and let out frustrated cries as they entered the school, earning them questioning looks from people nearby. He was smart enough not to talk freely about anything in U.A.. The principal, Nezu, was cheeky. He had cameras everywhere and could probably listen to anything he said. He had to be careful here. "Later," he simply said. She groaned again, but gave up, realizing that she could get him to crack.

The only barely made it to the play on time. It was actually pretty crowded, with almost the entire area filled with students. The play itself started only a few minutes after the two had arrived, only able to secure half-decent seats due to their tardiness.

The play itself was actually amusing, with the two siblings getting a lot of laughs out of it. There were a lot of cheesy moments, but there were also a lot of genuinely funny things included in the story that made it enjoyable to watch. The story could've been better and the music was certainly top notch, thanks for Kyouka Jiro's talent, as well as some of the other student's, but ultimately the play was a good 7/10 in Izuku's book. As for Izumi, she enjoyed the show greatly. He could see her smile frequently throughout the play and could hear her laugh at some of the parts, along with the rest of the theater. He was happy she was enjoying herself, since that was what this entire trip for them was for.

After the play, Yui had met up with them again. She had asked what they thought of the play, causing them both to go into full mumble-critic mode. Izuku didn't mean to go back into one of his old habits, really, but in the end he wasn't able to help it. Yui had to snap him and Izumi out of their almost hypnotic state, though she was amused. The siblings weren't amused, but greatly embarrassed.

The rest of the festival was spent just having a good time. The siblings insisted on leaving early, just because they wanted to go home and relax for the rest of the day. They weren't normally prone to be around other people, so that was another main contributor for wanting to leave. By insisting on their early departure, they also encouraged Yui to be with her classmates as well, which she ended up reluctantly agreeing to.

Despite that, the three of them went to enjoy some of the other attractions before leaving. Some of the stuff left much to be desired, but overall the siblings would admit they had a fun time before they left. Izuku was, admittedly, upset he didn't get to see Shinso at all, but he figured that he was busy with something and didn't bother worrying too much about it. Izumi, especially, was happy that she left with bags of candy. Izuku was just happy that she had a good time.

When they got home, Izumi wasted no time in trying to pry Izuku for information regarding what happened with Gentle Criminal. He told her what happened, along with his explanation for doing what he did, much to her skepticism. She was unsure as to whether letting them become 'associates' was actually a good idea, but Izuku assured her that all would be fine. Speaking of, Izuku had also done what he had promised and got into contact with the man to exchange necessary information.

For the rest of the day, the two just relaxed. Inko was out at work, so the two had the place to themselves. They didn't feel like going to the workshop, instead opting to take the day to relax and take a break. Izuku had actually shown Izumi his collection of video games, since he noticed her interest in them. The two actually played some together, for a few hours, until dinner time had come.

Nighttime had come sooner than expected. Yui had messaged him earlier in the day to thank him for coming and inform him that, overall, everything was a massive success. She also thanked him for getting the replacement parts that they needed, again, which he just tried to metaphorically shrug off. The two ended up talking for a little while about things, but ultimately ended up ceasing when it got later.

That night, when Izuku made sure Izumi was asleep, he took out his phone. He put it on his desk while he went and sat at his computer, pulling up a private messaging server in questionable parts of the internet.

He opened a private messaging part of the server, going to a particular username and opening a channel.

You: Hello.

Believer3224: This is unexpected.

Believer3224: We haven't talked since I asked for information on Endeavor a while back.

Believer3224: To what did I owe the pleasure?

Believer3224: Is that what you want me to say?

Izuku smiled, amused by the response.

You: No, not really. I don't care much for reputation.

Believer3224: You're well known.

Believer3224: Really well known.

Believer3224: The handy man wants to recruit you. Says you'll be an asset too good to pass up.

You: I have no interest in joining his little League. I have my own agenda.

Believer3224: I find it hard to believe that you'd message me for something like that.

Believer3224: What are you up to?

You: I want you to join me.

Believer3224: Excuse me?

Believer3224: That's a pretty bold move on your part buddy.

Believer3224: I thought you were supposed to be all smart and shit. That seemed like a dumb move on your part.

You: Let me ask you this: why did you join the League in the first place?

Believer3224: The Hero Killer. I believe in his ideology. They harbor his cause.

Izuku smirked. He's got this now.

You: Now, tell me, what part of what the League does represents Stain's ideology?

Believer3224: ...

You: Attacking innocent children. Kidnapping said children. All for what? Because your leader had a grudge against All Might and heroes in general. That's not Stain's ideology.

Believer3224: Then what are you proposing?

Believer3224: Even if what you're telling me is true, why are you even telling me?

Believer3224: What's your goal then, if you're so judgemental?

You: I want to reshape the hero world.

Believer3224: That's extremely vague, I want more than that.

You: There are a lot of bad parts of the hero world. Heroes fail to act when they should, which can, inadvertently or not, cause the deaths of innocents. On top of that, most heroes care more about their public image and popularity rather than saving people. It's something I despise. There are other things, but that's the base of it.

Believer3224: Wow.

Believer3224: Gotta say, I didn't expect that.

Believer3224: That's a lot like Stain, you know.

Believer3224: You sure you two didn't know each other?

You: Yeah, I've thought about that myself. My ideology does greatly resemble his, but we are a lot different in the way we do things.

Believer3224: I get it. Doesn't really matter to me how it's done, just that it's done, or getting done.

You: Does this mean you're up to joining?

The other end of the conversation was silent for a while. Izuku sat there, a small smile on his face as he waited for a response. Eventually, he got one.

Believer3224: What do you want me to do?

You: Call me: #######

After Izuku sent his number, he waited for the phone call. The phone was on silent, so it wouldn't make any noise and wake Izumi who was sleeping nearby. After a minute or so, the phone buzzed. He picked it up and answered it.

In a quiet voice, he spoke, "Hey."

"You want me to join you, right?" The voice on the other end of the phone asked. Izuku could tell that the person was unsure, most likely wanting a bit more information. "Is this call secure?"

"Yup," Izuku responded with a pop on the 'p', answering both of his questions at once, "I'm building a team, of sorts. A team that agrees with my ideology and is capable enough to help me fulfill the end goal. I think you'd make a great addition."

"How many other members are there?"

Izuku responded quickly, "Two right now, including myself. You'd be the third member. However, I'm currently scouting potential recruits. Don't worry, you shouldn't have any quarrels with them, since I'm sure they'd share your beliefs as they do mine."

He was silent for a few moments, most likely considering the offer. "What the hell, why not? You fit Stain's ideals a lot more than these guys anyway." Izuku smiled, pleased at the fact he had gotten a new member. "So how does this exactly work? What do you want me to do?"

Izuku went back to his serious state, making sure to relay that kind of tone to the person on the other side of the phone, "We'll meet in person soon. Lay low for now, act like you're still in the League. Tell me what they're doing, I need to keep tabs on them." Izuku paused to take a breath before he continued, "I'm going to avoid anything too extravagant until the entire team is formed."

"Fair enough," the person commented, probably shrugging on the other end of the phone. "The job sounds easy enough to handle, I've got it," the person agreed to doing the assignment, making Izuku smile again. "When did you want to meet? I'm up to do it whenever."

"A week from today, 16:00 sharp, food court area. I'll find you."

The person on the other end of the phone chuckled, "What is this, a date?"

Izuku rolled his eyes, though he was a tad bit amused at the person's joke. He decided to make a comeback, "You'd probably mess it up if it was. You probably have a shit temper."

A laugh was heard on the other side of the phone, "Whatever you say, boss."

\---

At the Heights Alliance dormitories, the students slept peacefully. All of them had a long day and each took the opportunity to relax without a fight.

All except for one.

A spiky, blonde haired guy tossed and turned in his bed. Sweat poured down his face, as well as the rest of his body, as he dreamt.

"No... no! Deku- stop! Please! Don't-"

He shot up, rapidly breathing to try and catch his breath. He grabbed his chest, his heart being at intense speeds. He felt terrible, the whole day. After meeting the girl, he'd been a complete and utter mess. He'd felt sick, his head hurt, and overall he just felt dead. Then, the nightmares... he hadn't been able to sleep at all.

Now, though, he knew that he was wrong. He had been wrong to think that he had died. He was still alive. Katsuki didn't know what he was doing, or where he was, but he was alive. That's what's mattered.

That girl knew him. She hated him. She wanted nothing more than to make him pay for what he had done since he was four-years-old! That also meant she knew him. Not only that, but Katsuki had a feeling that they were related.

He'd get to the bottom of this. He'd find him. He'd settle things the way he should have. He needed to. He wanted to. He wanted nothing more than to apologize and make things right, but he had his doubts. Would he be accepted? Would he be forgiven?

He had a feeling that he wouldn't. A strong, strong feeling.

\---

"Why Scorpion", you ask? Well let me tell you.

I know it's really out there. I'll talk about overall abilities and then why her ideals are shaped the way they are.

Okay, so I picked Scorpion for a few reasons. First of all, Scorpion himself is actually really athletic and flexible, or at least he seems so. I can easily see Eri adopting that kind of style pretty easily. There's also the fact that she's just genuinely interested in scorpions themselves and wanted to sort of represent them like how Izuku represents his mysterious side. Like I said, her interests will change along with her persona in the future.

As for why her ideals are the way they are, one, she's older now. This may seem confusing, but since she's older her view and perspective on certain things will 100% become more warped. She's able to understand a lot more about the world and that it's a pretty shit place and, through Izuku (which is totally his fault), she sees that even the people who are supposed to be good can be bad and she hates that. She especially hates when people let other people die, those are the worst people to her. It should be obvious as to why she feels that way, in my opinion.

With Izuku's plan and ideals, she completely agrees with him. It's not just because he saved her and she wants to repay him either. Things need to be changed and she knows that his end goal is something for the good of everyone. She knows Izuku isn't a bad person and won't just turn and start killing innocents. She wants a world where people are happy and free, not suffering like she was, and if people (heroes in particular) are letting that happen then she wants them gone.

In general she's going to become more of a venomous person, especially to strangers she doesn't trust and people she loathes. She will, of course, have that sweet and innocent side still in her, but it will only be shown to people she likes, trusts, or wants to fool.

But regarding her home life and how she really is, then she's only going to get happier. She will be less and less depressed as time goes on and as she helps Izuku with his plan. So yeah, happy and healing.

I also did tease one of her future personas in this chapter too. If you figure it out then... hell yeah. I'll tell you that I totally forgot to put him on my previous villain list, so that should narrow it down a tiny bit. It'll be an incredibly dangerous one too, maybe more suitable for her. You'll actually get to see a glimpse of it soon.

I know Yui wan't in this chapter much, but you'll actually get more from here and her thoughts of the Festival, Izuku and Izumi more in the next chapter.

Also, regarding Gentle Criminal, I think I handled that pretty well. I know that it wasn't a full-on action sequence, but instead you got more of Izuku's manipulative and decisive side. This Izuku won't fight if he doesn't want to, or have to, so he saw this issue being resolved with words instead, which he successfully accomplished. This Izuku is far more cunning and thoughtful, so he's able to pull it off. And no, Gentle will not be a part of the Sinister Six.

The other person though? Yeah, that's a member of the six. Thought that's as a given considering how the conversation went, but yeah. You'll meet him eventually, though you can all actually probably guess who it is.

By the way, if you see a username with numbers in them, it's most likely an Easter Egg or hint in my story. See if you can figure out what the numbers mean, if you want.

For Katsuki, I mean, I get what a lot of you are saying. I'm not a Bakugo fan, personally. Actually, I despise him in the anime/manga. I don't really get how people pick him as their favorite character. But in this story, I'm trying to change him. He's not the same Bakugo as in the canon.

Like I said before, I hope you don't mind the name I have Eri. I think it fits quite well, along with its meaning. She'll be referred to as that name for the remainder of the story, or at least most of the time.

Soon, there will be a lot more things happening. This chapter had a lot in it, more setup, but hopefully it was exciting for you and hyped you up a bit for what's to come. Very, very soon you'll get more villain action. Very soon.


	8. A Message

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A message, to the world, as been sent.

A/N: I'm glad the last chapter was as well received as it was. Thank you all for the support. Reviews will be at the end.

I know that I've recently been really apologetic in my notes here about my grammar mistakes, but I just want you to know that I really do mean that. I've been going through chapters with some people and they're helping me identify any mistakes, because sometimes I'm just too blind to notice them at first glance.

This chapter will feature the Pro Hero arc, along with a few other things. Following this, do not expect things to follow the canon manga storyline. I will start improvising and changing things, making things more original.

I should probably also say that well, you're not going to be fed a lot of those big illusion type battles. If you do too much, it gets too old, too repetitive. He's only going to do it when he needed to, and the first one may be soon, I'm not sure.

Also, Izuku's warehouse is PURPOSELY a mystery. You're not supposed to know a lot about it. Stuff about it is supposed to seem confusing. I plan to have an arc about all of this later where you learn exactly what Izuku's warehouse is and how it functions. You'll get snippets here and there regarding rooms and stuff, but never it's entire layout.

Current Sinister Six Lineup:

Izuku Midoriya (Mysterio)

Izumi (Eri) Midoriya (Scorpion)

League Spy (?)

? (?)

? (?)

? (?)

Associates:

Gentle Criminal and La Brava

The new member will be revealed in this chapter since I feel like there's no need to keep it a secret.

This chapter took a while due the fact I was, and still am, entirely unsure about how it would be received. This chapter is… very, very dark. Mysterio will prove his point in a very violent way in this chapter. I hope it's still to your liking.

I love seeing you guys guess and theorize in the reviews about who people are, what certain things mean, and all that stuff. I really do like that, it makes me think you guys are getting into the story and are actively contemplating things when you read it. That makes me happy, as someone who aims to be a writer.

So, yeah, I love your reviews, enough said.

WARNING! THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SCENES THAT MAY BE UNCOMFORTABLE FOR SOME VIEWERS, VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED!

\---

Shigaraki Tomura was pissed off.

He stood in front of a towering figure which looked down upon him and his down teammates. He glared up at it in defiance, while the towering giant held Mr. Compress in his left hand and looked down at him.

Nothing had gone his way. Absolutely. Nothing. First, those brats from U.A. had beaten him, then the Nomu he brought was defeated and lost. Those kids made him scared and he hated that. The Hosu attack was shit too, that didn't work and Stain gained even more publicity. The only things he gained after that were some teammates. Then the forest attack; at first it went well, he captured the explosion brat, but then the heroes came and ruined everything! Then, as if things couldn't get any worse, his master got captured! Then they couldn't get their hands on that bastard Chisaki! Some asshole had gotten to him first and killed him before they had a chance to deal with him and take the finished product, which was also gone!

While in hiding, Kurogiri had asked him if he could leave in search of a certain "power" his master left behind for him. He granted Kurogiri permission to leave, but then he got captured by the police. Now he was without Kurogiri.

At first, when this thing showed up he had been fascinated. The things had shown up out of the ground and he figured it was the power Kurogiri had been sent to retrieve. But it wanted him to prove his worthiness as All for One's successor.

That brought him to where he was now. He and his League in beaten shambles under the boot of the giant beast. They were at his mercy, essentially. Disappointedly, the heat cried out to his master which made Tomura even more angry.

He threw Compress to the ground, wailing in the air to his master. He kept asking the air why his master had chosen such weaklings. Even tears started to form from the hulking creature's eyes. But, when all seemed lost, the radio around the creature's neck started to emit the sound of static before cutting it a familiar voice. His master's Doctor spoke through the radio.

He had introduced the beast, its name apparently being Gigantomachia, which possesses multiple Quirks and was formerly Sensei's bodyguard. Apparently, All for One had sent him into hiding after All Might had originally injured him. The beasts said it wanted to accept him, but said he was just far too weak.

Dabi, who had arrived late, wasn't too pleased about this, however, claiming that the so-called 'gift' wasn't a good one. The Doctor agreed, saying that it was too loyal to All for One at the moment. Dabi unleashed a torrent of flames against the beast, but it merely shrugged it off, and before it could retaliate the Doctor played a recording of All for One's voice to calm it down.

"I don't want him." Tomura stated staring ahead, up at the beast.

"Grow up," the Doctor stated harshly, through the radio. "You've spent too much time with Kurogiri. You cannot get everything you want."

Following that short exchange, the same Warping Quirk that All for One used at Kamino was used to bring them to the Doctor's personal lab, all except Gigantomachia.

Upon arrival, everyone took the liberty of looking around. Dabi noticed around a dozen Nomu in development, notably much different than the normal ones. The Doctor, in response to Dabi's inquiry, labeled them as High-End Nomu, saying that they are much more advanced than the old ones.

He introduced himself to everyone, using an admitted alias known as "Daruma Ujiko". He told Tomura, very bluntly, that he would have to prove he could pass on his master's will, before giving him the condition of making Gigantomachia submit to his will. The Doctor told Dabi that he could stay back with him to help test out the High-End Nomus, since he didn't want to go with the group.

Then began a seemingly impossible fight between the League of Villains and Gigantomachia.

\---

After the festival Izuku and his new sister Izumi, previously named Eri, were hard at work. For the following month or so, they worked endlessly on their respective things. They had a lot to do up to when the Hero Rankings were to be announced.

Izuku had to stop making the Scorpion suit for around a week so he could make an automatic drone assembly machine. He didn't know exactly what to call it, so he just went with the A.D.A.M.. The A.D.A.M. had come along easier than he actually initially expected. He had previously completed the blueprints for it when he had free time at night, so all he really needed to do was build it.

It took a little less than a week of endless work. It was just in the nick of time too, since he was going to be meeting the new member of his team then too. It's not to say he didn't have his difficulties with it, but ultimately it was completed in an optimal timeframe.

The thing was long. He meant long. He had to build it on one of his sublevel floors because it just took up that much space- which, luckily, the warehouse had plenty of on other levels. He had to make an A.I. specifically for the machine too, giving it instruction on how to do certain things and in what order to do them. The assembly line stretched from one end of the large room to the other in length, but in width it was pretty tame. In fact, he was considering building at least two more in the same room and then making a transport system leading to somewhere else in which the drones can be stored.

The initial tests were actually a success, and the drones that were built were basically replicas of his already existing drones. It took some time for it to build, though, estimating at around five hours or so. Izuku didn't much care, though, knowing that time could definitely be improved, especially if he built more A.D.A.M.s.

During the time he was busy with that, he trusted Izumi to complete her school work without his constant supervision. In fact, she did, but she went even further beyond that! She, to his utter shock, had ended up testing out of her middle school courses. He was elated and proud to see her doing so well. So much so that decided to nickname her "his little prodigy". She hated it.

Soon enough, the day of his meeting came. Izumi, despite wanting to come, had to stay at home. He told her to continue her work. She was unhappy about it, but relented anyway. Izuku and his new team member had been in contact a few times after their initial conversation, but only about specific details about what would be brought to the meeting and whatnot.

He arrived at the mall's food court area at the exact time he had mentioned beforehand. He looked around the semi-busy mall and found who had been looking for; a man in a dark blue hood sitting alone in the corner of the area.

Izuku approached the table, which only had two chairs, and sat in the only other open chair. The one across from him was surprised, at first, but seemed to recollect himself quickly.

The two sat in silence for a while with Izuku even developing a sort of smirk when he noticed the other's expression. "What's wrong? Surprised?"

He looked away, a little nervous, it seemed. "For someone with such a reputation, you're young."

"That's what's wrong?" Izuku shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me, really, don't worry about it."

The other raised a brow, "You're not afraid I'll tell the League or something?"

Izuku chuckled, "I trust you not to tell them. Your personality doesn't really fit that kind of thing, in my opinion. Plus-" he used the same trick he did on Gentle, changing his appearance to look like a random person before changing back. "-you never really truly know what I look like."

The other one chuckled, "I suppose not. Well played."

Silence ensued for a few moments before Izuku decided to speak again, "I know you said you didn't really care all that much for it, but you know my ideals and end goal, but not exactly how I'm going to do it. I thought I should fill you in. Do you agree?"

He shrugged, "I'm not going to lie, I'm interested. I'll probably still be down for this even if the method is questionable, though. The League is starting to piss me off, I regret joining that garbage pile." He shook his head, disappointed in himself. "You're more of the idealist I want to follow, anyway. Shoot your plan at me." He crossed his arms, awaiting his new leader to start talking.

Talk Izuku did, for a while. He went into serious depth as to how he had grown to be the way he was and how he would like to achieve his end goal. "I know that this is terrible, I hate it too, but publicity will be necessary if I want to make an influence."

He shrugged, "Yeah, I hate that stuff. You've already hashed this and support this opinion, but publicity isn't what should make a hero. But I do have to agree that a high publicity will be necessary to make a change in this kind of society."

Izuku nodded, "I'm still working on ways to incorporate myself into the hero spotlight. Something that'll bring me great attention and show that I'm legit while downplaying most other heroes."

He gave Izuku a questioning look, "What about hero registration and all that jazz?"

"I've got my files and stuff settled. Everything should be in order regarding my hero license and background." He gave a sly smile, "They won't even notice the difference between the fake and a real one."

He raised another brow, "How'd you end up managing that?" He questioned a bit skeptically. "They could do some research and ask the school you listed what's up, right? How are you gonna handle that?"

Izuku's sly smile never faltered, "There's a Hero School in the country that's founder, and most of the staff, are Quirkless. They sympathized with my ideals and were willing to support me." He shrugged, "Of course, I gave them some money in compensation as well." He looked at the other, about to add more, "There are also people in the Hero Administration itself that agree with my ideals and methods who also want a change; a real change. I've got a lot of people backing me in pretty high places, so if people start asking questions things will be proven legit. Let's not even mention the people in the police. There are, believe it or not, a lot of sympathizers out there in a multitude of places."

"Why go through all of this trouble, then?" He asked, looking at him questioningly. "If you've got people in the higher-up part of the hero administration why don't you just have them institute a change?"

"Because they can't. "Izuku responded to the question, not really minding it. "People need proof, solid evidence that the current system and heroes are flawed. That's essentially my job. A popular hero to influence the masses and a villain to expose the fakes. Both are necessary."

"Ah," he nodded in some understanding. He seemed to accept the answer he got, now choosing to talk about other matters. "You told me you were scouting for some people before." He brought up, getting Izuku's attention. "Who do you have in mind?"

"Well, one of them is actually quite young." Izuku admitted, which surprised him again, but again he recomposes himself quickly. "He's going to be at U.A. in a little while as well, so I'm planning on taking that time to introduce myself to him."

His eyes widened, "You're a U.A. student?"

Izuku chuckled softly, "Hell no. That dream was crushed a while ago." He admitted, a tad grimly, but he got over it quickly to continue what he wanted to say. "The point is that he'll be away from his usual spot; more in the open, if you will. I may not be able to get into U.A., but I can get him out."

He rose a brow, clearly contemplating exactly how he planned to do that, but he didn't say anything. It seemed like he just accepted what Izuku said. Izuku wasn't sure if that was because of his reputation or that he just expected Izuku to be capable of such a feat.

"Speaking of U.A.," Izuku spoke again, getting his new allies' attention, "I would like to know who the spy is. I've been doing my best at trying to figure it out, but he or she must be an incredible actor."

He smirked, "So you do know about them…"

"Them?" Izuku also smirked, "So there's more than one? Interesting."

He only nodded, bending down to his side where he apparently had a bag of some sort, and grabbed some stuff out of it. He slid it across the table to Izuku, who grabbed it and started to read. They were mostly papers he had seemingly written himself, which consisted almost entirely of notes and images.

"That stuff has most of the stuff you're probably looking for, including information about the League members, associates, and spies." He spoke, pointing at particular papers.

Izuku flipped through and skimmed some of them. He found some interesting pieces of information, "These two are interesting indeed, I'll have to go say hi to them soon." Izuku was genuinely interested in what he was reading about the spies. They were interesting characters, that was for sure; their backstories were indeed something he found to be intriguing. They could be swayed to his side if he played his cards right. From what he knows now, the police and school are doing an active investigation to determine who their spy is. He would have to act quickly with them.

Something caught his attention on another page, "Gigantomachia?"

The one across from his nodded, "Something that serves as All for One's previous bodyguard." Izuku raised a brow, lowering the page he had in his hand to look at the speaker. "The thing, from what the Doctor has let slip, has multiple Quirks. It tanked one of my strongest attacks without even flinching. Currently the League is trying to make it submit to them. I chose not to go."

Izuku hummed thoughtfully, "Either way, if the League gets it on their side or not, it needs to be eliminated." He commented darkly, his eyes beginning to narrow on the page about it. "Something like that shouldn't be running around."

He nodded, "I agree. Any ideas on how to take it down?"

Izuku looked up at him, "Maybe." He thought for a moment, considering a plethora of ideas. "Do you think that it's vulnerable to any form of penetration on his skin? Lethal injection, maybe? Perhaps a sort of toxin or poison?"

The other also hummed in thought, "Possibly. Like I said, we basically couldn't do a thing to it when we initially fought it. It's skin is almost impenetrable, but maybe through the eyes, ears, nose or mouth those things can work. The thing likes to hang it's mouth open a lot. Depends on what you can do, the thing is really stupid so I'm sure you can get away with anything on the first attempt if you tried it."

Izuku shrugged, "I may be able to figure something out. I'll take this as a priority threat and try to find a way to permanently eliminate him. Oh, also," Izuku started to change the subject, "I'm not sure if you're aware yet, but the Meta Liberation Army has been starting to make moves again. Destro's autobiography was recently released and is actually selling quite well."

The one across from him nodded, "I've heard about that. People around the country are starting to support the Army's ideals."

It was Izuku's turn to nod, "From my sources, I've heard that they're viewing the League as a prominent threat. Someone on the forums, most likely an Army Loyalist, said something about 'the League overshadowing them', or something. I'm afraid they'll start moving on them."

"They will, I'm sure of it as well." The one across from him commented, admittedly a little nervous. "If they are I'm not really looking forward to it. I've heard that the resources they have are no joke."

Izuku shook his head, "You're right. Do you know Yotsubashi Rikiya?"

The other raised an eyebrow again, "The President and CEO of the Detnerat Company? The fairly well-known lifestyle support company?" He questioned, making sure he had heard right. When Izuku nodded, he continued talking, "Yeah, I've heard of him. The guy's a pretty big deal."

"Well, what if I told you that he's the Grand Commander of the Meta Liberation Army?"

His eyes widened, "You can't be serious. The guy actually seems really genuine about making the world better for people with difficult Quirks."

"He is, to a certain extent," Izuku responded, "but all that is just the public façade. Behind the scenes he's running one of the most dangerous organizations on the planet with thousands of soldiers ready to pounce on command." Izuku looked up at the hooded person across from him, his face mixing into one of curiosity and wonderment. "His father is the original Destro, with him taking the place as the new leader with the name Re-Destro."

"I'm not even going to question how you know this, since I'm sure you have your sources, but this sounds exceptionally bad," the hooded person commented. "With the resources he has, I wouldn't be surprised if he had everyone in satellite or something."

Izuku nodded, "He most likely does. This is a big reason as to why they need to be taken care of, either through elimination, merging with them, or just plain making peace with them."

"Those last two options sound a bit out there," he crossed his arms. "How do you think you'll manage accomplishing either of them?"

Izuku looked at him, "The Meta Liberation Army's ideals are interesting. They aren't exactly the same as ours, but similar enough to where we can potentially work with one another." Izuku smirked, catching the other off guard. "However, if they don't see reason and don't listen, then I have some ideas on how to deal with them."

Izuku received a questioning gaze, "Mind sharing?"

He shook his head, crossing his arms and leaning back into his seat while grabbing a whole new paper to read. "Admittedly, I'm still a little unsure about a lot of stuff regarding them. It really depends on the final team I put together and what they ultimately listen to. Our first priority should be to make sure that Re-Destro doesn't attempt to face the League."

When the other nodded in understanding, Izuku proceeded to read the sheet of paper he had taken. Silence ensued as he read. The whole page, front and back, was dedicated to one specific subject.

"High-End Nomu?" He questioned, continuing to read. "At least a dozen… a few ready… these are bad."

The one across from him nodded, "Incredibly strong, multiple Quirks, all of that jazz." He crossed his arms, looking at Izuku with a narrowed look. "I'm not sure how the Doc's able to give them multiple Quirks with All for One in the slammer, but he's doing it, planning to make more too."

Izuku figured that, with All for One gone and the fact that the Nomu were still being made, meant that they had some kind of way to duplicate Quirks. Izuku looked at him seriously, reaching into his own bag and pulling out a handful of things. "I was planning on giving these to you anyway, but now seems to be a better time. Hold out your hands." He held out his hands, allowing Izuku to drop separate things into each hand.

The other looked at what had been dropped in his hands. There were multiple small objects in both hands, and though they looked similar, had their little differences. The ones in his left hand had a dark red circle in the middle, while the other ones had a different design. "What are these?"

"The ones in your left hand are nano-explosives." Upon receiving the answer to his question, a small ounce of panic made itself known on his face. "Relax, they won't explode. The material they are made of is extremely durable, they can take a beating. Don't underestimate the explosion, though." When the other nodded, Izuku continued. "The ones in your right hand are bugs used by me to gather information. If you place a few of those around, maybe on Shigaraki himself as well as the Doctor, I'll be able to record their conversations as well as listen in whenever I want, not to mention track them. You should place at least one in the lab though, I would like that on my radar and to be able to hack into the system there at any time."

"I get the bugs, but why the explosives?" He asked, a little confused. "There are a lot more of them too."

"I gave you more than what I originally wanted to give you," Izuku admitted, his face more serious. "However, with these 'High-End Nomu' I think I'd be best to plant some of these on their weak points, just in case."

"I see. Well, it shouldn't be a problem." He looked at the bugs and explosives in his hands before separating them using two different pouches in his own bag. After he did that, he looked back at Izuku with a questioning look. "I assume that, just maybe, you want me to put some around the key points of the lab too?"

Izuku chuckled, "If you have some left over, then yeah. If not then it's no big deal. I'm sure they have it running on some kind of system so if I hack into it I could mess it up." Izuku also gave him a curious look. "How'd you get permission to leave, anyway?"

He gestured to the bag he had with him, "I'm supposed to be on a supply run. He wants some basic necessities, food and the like." He looked back at Izuku with an annoyed expression. "The man doesn't want to move; he's too distracted in his work so he's having me do his errands. One of the High-Ends has a warping Quirk that he uses to transport me to places and back."

Izuku had another question, "You said these High-Ends have higher intelligence than the previous ones. Are you able to give it commands?"

He nodded, "Yeah, they'll listen to me. I was actually planning on-" His eyes widened a bit, before smirking. Izuku became curious as he spoke again, "I actually have an idea." Izuku motioned him to continue, his curiosity peaked. "I had originally been planning on using one of the High-Ends, Hood, he's on the paper somewhere, to attack Endeavor the day after the Hero Billboard Chart Event."

Izuku raised an eyebrow at that. He had already been playing on using this High-End, so the fact that he suddenly figured it could be used to his advantage was intriguing. Izuku thought about what his teammate had in mind, and as he thought about it more he actually thought he had some clue as to what this idea was.

After a moment of silence, he continued, "What I'm thinking is this: I still send the High-End. But, you, with your fake hero persona, could swoop in to save the day. I can still plant the nano-explosive in its head, if all else fails, and it'll be destroyed that way."

Izuku smirked. What an idea indeed. "I'm impressed with that plan of yours, though I'm surprised you're veering off of your original plan of killing Endeavor for this, considering your… opinions of him."

He chuckled, "With the way you sound things, I'll most likely have another opportunity to take care of that bastard." He looked at Izuku knowingly, leaning back in his seat similarly to Izuku. "Knowledge is power to you. I'd be a fool not to recognize that. You've probably got plan after plan, backup plan after backup plan. Let's not even mention the fact you know almost everything about anyone that interests you," he chuckled, "like me."

"You're not wrong," Izuku responded, genuinely impressed at his new teammate's view on things. "I'm glad to know you recognize that." Izuku looked at him, curiously. "I like that plan, but I've got something just a smidge better. Want to hear it?" When Izuku received a nod, he continued, "Let's move the attack to the day of the Hero Billboard Chart Event."

His eyes widened in surprise, "Wouldn't that be a foolish idea, though?" He was genuinely confused. They just had dialogue about how smart he was, so why did he just suggest this? "There are going to be hundreds of heroes in attendance, on guard, or nearby. it would get decimated."

Izuku held up a finger, looking at the section where the particular High-End is listed on one of the papers. "This High-End you wanted to send, Hood, has a multitude of different Quirks. Muscle Augmentation, Super Regeneration, Shoulder-Mounted Jets, Transforming Arms, Power, and finally, Storage. This particular one is incredibly powerful. It's made to be a tank in battle." He looked up to his teammate, "The heroes in attendance are going to be too crowded with each other. Not enough room to work and use their Quirks without risking another's life, especially in Endeavor's case. That'll put them into a bad position, in which then I'll 'save' them."

He looked at Izuku with eyes full of something similar to admiration, "Not bad. Though I have to ask, won't this cause a lot of deaths? More Pro Heroes than civilians, granted, but deaths nonetheless. You good with that?"

"I don't want the initial attack to last that long, maybe a few minutes but nothing much more." Izuku closes his eyes, "It's regrettable, but there likely will have to be some deaths." He looked at his teammate, a determined look in his eyes. "I made a commitment a while back to fulfil my goal but any means necessary. This applies to that."

After a moment of silence, he spoke, "I get it. It's necessary." He glared down at the table, hands becoming angry fists. "I'm still pissed at the fact I actually went along with the League. I should've known from the moment we met that they didn't represent the ideology I follow." He looked at Izuku, matching his determined eyes. "I went along with the attack they did on the students; students that haven't even proven their heroics yet. He wanted a few kids kidnapped to torture them for foiling his last attack, having nothing to do with true heroism. I regret that."

Izuku genuinely smiled at the little rant, "That's what makes you a great teammate." Izuku's smile flipped into a frown, "I did do some digging into your past, admittedly, and I know what drives you. You're a reliable team member that genuinely believes in the cause."

To Izuku's milk surprise, his teammate didn't seem annoyed, angered, or anything when he said he had looked into his past. He seemed to notice Izuku's mildly confused expression, so he spoke, "If you're wondering why I'm not mad about you looking into my past, well, there's a few reasons." He leaned forward, looking at Izuku and putting his arms on the table. "I expected something like this. You're a well known broker, known for your information gathering and analysis skills. How could I not expect you to look into me?"

Izuku nodded, once again impressed, "Fair point." Izuku then grabbed some files he had brought, handing them to his new teammate, "If it's not too much trouble, do you mind maybe taking him out? Doesn't really matter how, or who really does it, the only conduction I'm implementing is that he isn't killed. I only want him taken out of commission, perhaps through a kidnapping or injury, I'm not looking to kill him."

He opened the file, looking down at the few papers it contained. "Nighteye, huh? I can see how he'd be a problem. What about the other one?... I don't remember his name."

"Lemillion," Izuku answered, looking straight at him with a narrowed look. "Plan the attack for when Lemillion and Rule are not there. Once Nighteye is down I'll deal with Lemillion personally. As for Rule, I'm still unsure..."

He nodded, understanding his objective. He put the files in his own bag before looking at Izuku and asking, "Want him gone in any specific timeframe or?..."

"Within a month would be ideal, so somewhere between now and thirty days." Izuku answered him. "Anything longer than that I feel is pushing our luck."

He nodded, silence ensuing once again for another few moments before Izuku slid another piece of paper across the table. "What's this?"

Izuku smirked, "A list of possible new aliases I've thought up. I thought that maybe you'd want to change from Dabi to something… I dunno, more intuitive?"

The man now known as Dabi looked at Izuku dumbly, "The name Dabi was intuitive. Like what's this one? Molten Man? What kind of name is that?"

Izuku laughed, "It's something small. Actually, you could use that one for later."

Dabi raised an eyebrow, "What comes later that would require me to need another fake name?"

"I'll have to inform you about that later," Izuku told him. "As much as you're trustworthy, the plan is subject to change due to potential unknown factors or possible failures. When the time comes, I'll inform you." Izuku paused, thinking about something. Once he had an idea as to what he wanted to say, he spoke to Dabi again, "Before we wrap this up, can you tell me a little about your Quirk?" He seemed to be taken off-guard by the question. Izuku clarified, "I know a little about it, but most of the specifics are unavailable. I can only get them straight from the source. This is going to be mainly for whether I need to make you any support equipment or not."

Dabi hesitated for a moment, averting his eyes before answering the question, "My Quirk allows me to generate a large amount of extremely hot blue flames." He looked back to Izuku, "My body has a low tolerance to them, though, so I can't use them for a prolonged period of time. The heat from the flame is hot enough to incinerate people in seconds, so just imagine how that is for me." He paused for a moment to take a breath. "If you want to talk about offense and defense, I'm able to use it in multiple ways. Offensively, I can create fireballs which I can launch at people, release a torrent of fire similar to a flamethrower and just normally release bursts of fire. Defensively, I can generate flame walls from the ground and burn away most things from hitting me."

Izuku hummed, contemplating what he had been told. That was plenty of information, all he really needed to do was think of some support gear to help him. "Alright, thanks, that's more than enough information. I'll have to work on making you some gear to help reduce the risk of burning yourself and also perhaps increase the range of your attacks or reduce spread."

As Dabi dumbly nodded in understanding, Izuku stood up while grabbing his bag, preparing to leave. Dabi looked at him with a wondering look, also standing up and grabbing his own bag. "I don't understand why you trust me so much already."

Izuku gave him a small smile, putting a hand on his shoulder. "There are a lot of reasons as to why I'm putting a lot of trust into you." He removed the hand from Dabi's shoulder and held it out for him to shake, "It was good to meet you. I'm glad to have you on the team."

Dabi just stared at the outstretched hand, a bit bewildered by the suggestion. It was almost as if it was too foreign to him, which Izuku could understand considering his past. After a moment of silent staring, Dabi reciprocated the hand shake, actually giving Izuku a genuine smile, "Glad to be on the team, boss."

With that, the two went their separate ways. Izuku knew he could trust Dabi being on his team, and Dabi would prove to be a valuable teammate.

Things were definitely coming together now. Izuku really, really liked that. There were things he needed to prepare for and work on, and he would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous, but overall things were really starting to come together.

Over the next two weeks, Izuku had his mind set on a few different things. He worked on the Scorpion suit, which was actually progressing a lot quicker than he had initially anticipated, but he also had his mind set on a few other things. Things that, to him, he felt like would be more useful in the future.

Mainly, he wanted to upgrade his suit. There were a few ideas floating around in his head, as well as on more than a few pieces of paper, regarding what he could actually add or change.

One of the major things he wanted to do though, was add an interface similar to the one he had for the Mo-Cap suit into the actual suit. Essentially, when he fabricated the helmet, he wanted it to be the same interface as the illusion dome. That wasn't too hard to do, at least for him, so it wasn't at the top of the list.

There were also other things he could add, like mini-projectors. The purpose for them was for them to pop out of the back of his suit and strictly use them for emergencies, or if he didn't have access to any of his drones. These would also only be projectors, as well as some form of flight mechanic, nothing more. He thought of maybe adding four or six into his suit.

The major thing he thought he needed though, was weaponry. Not the weaponry he had on his drones, no, he needed something else. He had given it a lot of thought, ultimately putting down a plethora of fully developed ideas in multiple notebooks, but in the end he just thought some of them wouldn't exactly work the way he wanted.

He pushed away the ideas for the time being, but did want to come back to them later. Some of the ideas were still itching at the back of his head, so he couldn't just scrap them. That took around a day to decide.

With nothing else to really do, he ended up devoting most of his time to the Scorpion suit. Something that surprised him was that it was, as he had previously analyzed, was progressing a lot quicker than he had thought. The suit itself, from what he calculated, was around halfway done. This was mostly the armor and the necessary implements required to wear it, the interface and features wouldn't be added until later when the actual wearable suit was done. But, overall, he expected the actual suit to be done in a month or so.

When he wasn't working on that, he made ideas, designed and started developing Dabi's support equipment. It wasn't much, but he had a few things ready. For one, he made a fireproof funnel which would attach to his arm and fold in and out depending on whether he wanted the spread to be large or small. He would have to get Dabi's personal opinion of it, but he was also considering designing and making him a new suit or outfit as well. There were other things he thought of but was ultimately unsure about as well.

Dabi has also informed him that everything was in place. The nano-explosive had been planted on the High-End's weak spots and bugs have been planted throughout the lab. Izuku took the opportunity to find the location of the place.

Imagine Izuku's surprise when the lab seemed to be right on top of Jaku General Hospital. He was, at first, confused as to why such a well-known and positive hospital seemed to be the location of the lab. Through his bugs, he had even been able to hack into the lab's systems and access the Nomu data, so he figured that the lab had been right under the hospital. But the question was: how? He had done more research into the hospital itself, only to find out that the place had been founded by a Quirkless man named Garaki Kyudai.

There were a lot of things he had found to be utter bullshit from that. For one, there was absolutely no possible way the man was Quirkless. When Izuku did his research on the man, using very obscure sites and classified documents, he found pictures of him dating back sixty years, at least; yet, he still looked the same. This meant that the man had some kind of immortality Quirk.

The next thing was that this man seemed very, very familiar to him. Izuku felt like he had seen him before when he was younger, so he had brought the topic up to his mother. Inko had been surprised to see the man's picture, immediately recognizing him as the same doctor that diagnosed him as Quirkless. Izuku didn't quite know how to feel about that, but he did know that he would find a special enjoyment after eventually taking him down.

After all of that, he decided that he should finally start training Izumi's Quirk. Rewind was special in the sense that it only worked on organic beings, but it wasn't limited to just reversing things to a previous state. While it certainly could do that, Izuku couldn't undo but theorize that it could be capable of so much more than that. For example: immorality. It was a stretch, but oh so very possible. There were also questions he had, like would it work on dead cells, since they were previously living, or would it be null.

After Izumi finished her work for the day, he had her test her Quirk on some plants he had gotten. The goal was to see if she could do two things: actively turn her Quirk on and off, and if she could control the rate at which she used Rewind. There were also other things he planned to keep track of, like the range in which Rewind could reach. Was it limited to touch or could it be extended based on motion? If he stood next to her while he used it, was he safe or could it branch to him? Could it work on a genetic level, or was it limited to just outside physical states?

Additionally he had a tranquilizer on standby if she ever went out of control. He had brought it up with her beforehand, just to make sure she was alright with it. She ultimately said she trusted him enough to use it on her if she went out of control, agreeing that he could use it.

When she had come face to face with the plant, she had a scared look present on her face. Izuku, who had previously been sitting further back, went up to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Izumi, what's wrong?"

She turned back to look at him, a tear starting to form in her eyes. "Izu, I'm scared. What if I hurt you? I don't want to lose you."

Izuku frowned. He understood exactly why she was afraid; Chisaki had basically drilled the fact she was a 'curse' into her head. She was afraid that by using her power, she would end up hurting him. Even with that tranquilizer nearby, she couldn't help but be afraid. He gave her a hug; a hug full of love and compassion for the girl he now called his sister. She had instinctively hugged him back, while he spoke, "You don't have to worry about hurting me. You never do." He broke the hug, looking at her tearful eyes. "You're not a curse, and you have a wonderful gift. Of course there will be some trial and error here and there, but we'll get through it."

He had given her the most determined smile he could muster up, which seemed to help motivate her. She wiped her tears away, her face becoming more determined as she faced the plant again. She was focused and ready.

Her horn started to grow and glow brightly. Izumi, feeling the energy surge within her, outstretched her hand and touched the plant in front of her. Immediately, the effects of her Quirk began to take hold. The plant began to essentially rewind in time, slowly but surely going back to when it had just been a seed.

Once the plant successfully transferred back into a seed, Izumi had stopped using her Quirk on it. She attempted to deactivate it, but the more she tried the more it flared. She began to quickly panic, in which Izuku immediately took notice and tranquilized her before she could hurt herself.

Once she was knocked out, her horn shrunk down and he caught her in his arms. He had a thoughtful look on his face as he looked at her. Rewind seemed to have a tie to her emotions, as seen when she activated it easily enough through her determined and focused state and when she panicked, causing it to flare up even more. Izuku would have to work on that with her and help her control her own emotions.

That's what they ended up doing all the way up to the day of the Hero Billboard Chart event. The two, once done with their respective work, engaged in Quirk practice. Slowly but surely he taught Izumi how to handle her emotions, focus and harness them to help her maintain control of her power.

She seemed to excel in practice. It took a little over a week, only leaving a few days left, but she eventually got the hang of her emotions enough to be able to activate and deactivate her Quirk on command. The next thing to work on was her limit of control, such as proximity and speed.

For the last few days up until the event, Izuku tried to get Izumi to practice both. She was able to get the handle on both things, albeit in a very limited sense. For one, she was able to, at least, somewhat slow down the rate at which the object was rewound. It wasn't by much, but it was a start. She was also able to section off her power to a singular part of her body, not her entire body. She was able to transfer the energy from her horn, which was essentially the source of her power, to her hand.

Izumi, when Izuku had asked, described the feeling as "a weird energy that came from her horn". When he asked her what she meant by energy, she had told him that she felt a strange fuel source flowing throughout her body. She said it was part of the reason she had initially had trouble deactivating it.

Either way, they had made more progress than Izuku could have ever hoped for in just that short amount of time. The day before the actual event was spent resting in preparation for it. It would be a big and busy day, after all. He didn't want to mess this up.

He had to ask Izumi to do something for him, though. There was a window of opportunity for one of his potential recruits and he needed someone to meet him and speak to him. He would not be able to fulfill this role due to the Hero Billboard Chart event taking place that same day, so he needed to do other things.

When he approached his sister about the task, she was initially hesitant. The main reason was that she was scared, something he had initially figured would end up being the case. She still wasn't entirely used to being without him yet, so being separated from him from such a hefty distance would surely have some kind of mental toll on her.

He explained what he wanted her to do, in which she actually did start to ease up. He had given her a small remote, of sorts. He explained to her that if she pushed that button, he would be immediately alerted and he would drop everything to go and help her. It was the truth, too. He would most certainly do that if he had to.

After he had told her that, she seemed a little too determined to do it. Izuku was worried at first and expressed his concerns, but she quickly redirected it somewhere else. He thought that perhaps she was afraid of disappointing him, or perhaps she didn't want him to sacrifice his goals for her again. Either way, no matter how many times he tried expressing his worries, she always told him it was fine and that she would do it. He couldn't help but feel bad about it, thinking he had somehow emotionally manipulated her, but had to let it go upon her insistence.

The day had come, at last. He had quite a bit of work to do in order to make sure it went according to plan.

\---

Izumi Kota was being forced to tag along with the Pussycats to the U.A. dormitories.

It wasn't like he didn't want to go, in fact he was partially glad to due to being able to see his hero again. She had risked her life to save his, so he naturally idolized her to a certain extent. She was a true hero, in his book.

Regarding the eleven-year-old's opinions regarding heroes and villains, that didn't really change. Of course, he understood why heroes existed and didn't absolutely detest them anymore, but he still hated some of them. True heroism was, seemingly, uncommon in a lot of heroes. Rule, the hero who had saved him, was a prime example of someone embodying true heroism. She was willing to sacrifice her own life to save his, who was a complete stranger to her. That was true heroism. He couldn't say the same about other heroes, though.

Multiple news broadcasts that he had watched over the years had shown him that not all heroes embodied that trait. A sludge villain incident a while back ended with heroes being called out for their lack of action, which Kota couldn't help but agree with. Heroes that didn't act should be heroes at all and in his opinion should quit the job.

Currently, he stood in the common area of 1-A's dormitory. He was, admittedly, nervous. He was seeing the very same people he had previously shown hatred toward. Though, admittedly, it hadn't been that bad.

Rule had come up to him and held his hands with a smile on her face. She seemed happy to see him, despite everything. She even noticed his hat changed to be more like the one she had with her hero costume. In a way, she looked touched by the gesture. He was glad she liked it, but was also embarrassed by the fact she saw it.

As the attention drifted off of him and to the Pussycats, he had started to get bored. They still had to go all the way to the other dorm and talk to those students too, not to mention going to the actual school to speak with the Principal for some reason. They wouldn't be attending the ranking thing, which started very soon, anyway; so they weren't necessarily in too much of a rush.

Kota asked if he could take a walk around the campus, mostly to exhaust his boredom and get some fresh air. He was allowed to and he left on his own to aimlessly wander around campus with a bit of a brooding atmosphere.

After a few minutes of walking, he had ended up in a more open part of the campus. He was completely alone, and he would be lying if he said he didn't feel slightly unnerved. Imagine his surprise when a holographic image, which started in blue and eventually colorized, appeared in front of him suddenly.

He had let out a small yelp and ended up falling on his butt. It hurt a bit, but he hardly noticed due to the fact he was just staring at the image that suddenly appeared before him. It was a person, clearly, but it was just a black silhouette, nothing more nothing less. The projection seemed to be emitting from an invisible, round thing in the air.

A laugh escaped from the silhouette, "I apologize if I startled you, that was not my intention."

Kota was somewhat fearful of the person's form in front of him. He mustered up what little courage he had and stuttered, "W-Who are you? Why can't I see what you look like?"

The silhouette clearly turned to look down at him. "My name and appearance will be revealed to you after certain conditions are met. I'm hiding my appearance here due to the small chance of someone walking in on this conversation, though the cameras cannot see me."

Kota glared up at it, still fearful, "W-What do you want then?"

It hummed, "I want a few things. Particularly from you." He answered vaguely, making Kota a little confused. "I've done some research on you; your past, present, personality… I know a lot about you, Izumi Kota." Kota froze at the mention of his name, which the mysterious person seemed to immediately take notice of. "Ease yourself, I am not here to scare you. Rather I am here to ask you some things. Can you answer some of my questions?"

Kota nodded to the figure in front of him. He had no idea what this person wanted from him, but Kota feared the worst. After what happened with Muscular, he couldn't help but be that way.

"I have a particular… belief about heroes and villains in this world. From what I understand, you share similar beliefs to my own." It looked down at the boy once again, "Tell me, Kota, what is your opinion on heroes and the society itself?

Kota ignored how the figure called him by his first name in a show of finikarity and genuinely thought about how to answer the question he was given. Kota unconsciously eased himself as he thought, too, and eventually came up with a genuine response, "I hate heroes that use their Quirks for a show of power." The figure hummed, raising a hand motioning him to continue. "I used to detest everything hero related, but I know why they exist now. Heroes should be putting their lives on the line for people, not focusing on their popularity or pointless fights." Muscular, even though he was a villain, would be a perfect example of this. He was someone that just wanted to use their Quirk for a good fight, to boost his image or just to pointlessly kill. In heroes things like that shouldn't be present.

The figure hummed again, "I see. Now, what if I told you that you can help change the world. Enforce those beliefs and help make heroes in the world better. What would you say to that?"

Kota looked at the figure questioningly, unsure as to what he meant. "What do you mean?"

It was quick to respond, "Everyday there are heroes, or that's what they claim to be, that let people either die or put them in danger." He raised his left hand, another colorful hologram appearing on that side. Kota looked at it; the hologram showed a recording of Endeavor fighting a low level crook and a burning building. "Endeavor is a prime example of this. This fight alone killed one hundred and three civilians, all by Endeavor's own flame. By the hero that was supposed to be saving them." Kota's mouth went agape at that, while the figure raised his other hand with another hologram appearing on that side. Kota looked at that one, which played another recording of Death Arms and many other heroes standing idly by as a middle school kid was choking to death. "Many heroes stand by, too cowardly to risk their lives to save innocent lives." The holograms disappeared, making Kota refocus on the main figure. "That's what I aim to change."

Kota looked at it, his gaze hesitated and his stomach twisting. He knew it was wrong of him to even consider this, but he couldn't help but agree with everything the figure had said. Kota then asked, "How? How would you do it?"

The figure was silent for a moment, seemingly examining Kota's expression. The figure noticed his hestitance and spoke, "Go to the U.A. gate, someone will be there for you to talk to."

With that the figure disappeared, leaving Kota with his thoughts. He had to have been there silently considering everything he had been told for a while, but eventually he decided to lug himself to the gate. He didn't know why he decided to go there; it was more of a subconscious thing. Though, despite his own nervousness and fear he still felt obligated to go. It wasn't that he was being forced, but that he just genuinely wanted to go.

Once he got to the gate, he walked out of the campus. He was confused at first; there had been nobody there. He had thought that it was some kind of prank, or perhaps he had been tricked, but after another minute he saw someone approaching.

It was a girl, perhaps around his own age. They also seemed to be around the same height. She had shiny, semi-long blue hair and eyes with a smile that looked like it could reflect the sun. When she finally got to him, she kept the smile and spoke, "Kota, I presume?"

He dumbly nodded at her. He didn't necessarily know what to say, or ask. If he did ask something, would she even answer? Now he couldn't help but somewhat regret his decision. He had a choice to turn back before, but now he had to stick through it.

"Come with me, please." She waved her hand toward her in a motion for him to follow. She started to walk away to a destination unknown. She didn't even look back to see if he was following, just walking. Kota started as she walked for a few moments before finally deciding to follow her.

As they walked, with Kota behind the girl, he couldn't help but wonder who she was and what this was all about. He looked at her, curiously. "You're my age, right?" He paused, not saying anything else. He opted to wait and see if she responded first before asking anything else.

She was quiet for a little while, but ended up shrugging. She saw no reason as to why she couldn't say this, he figured, "You're a year younger than me." She never once turned around to look at him, instead continuing to focus on where she was walking.

Kota looked at her with a more curious expression. His initial fear began to subside after finding out her age, but he was still plenty nervous and confused about everything going on. "Then why are you involved with… whatever this stuff is?"

She didn't answer that time. No matter how long he waited, she didn't answer. Eventually, after a few more minutes of walking, they made it to some kind of building. It looked abandoned, and Kota instinctively felt a little nervous about entering, but when the girl had fearlessly marched inside he ended up following behind her anyway.

They didn't go too far into the building, instead only traversing through a few rooms until they made it to a room with a televisions and some other furniture. Beside the television lay a multitude of discs and files that Kota assumed would be for what they were going to do. The room they were in was basically a living room, just minus a few things. Kota looked at the girl even more curiously as she began fiddling with some of the equipment. Kota couldn't help himself and asked another question, "What are we even doing here?"

She started silent as she messed with some stuff, specifically the television and a few of the discs. She switched on the television and popped a disc in, grabbing a few files in her hands as well. She turned to him, "My brother set this place up specifically for you." She went and sat down on an old chair, which was placed next to a sofa in the center of the room. "I dunno exactly how he knew you'd be at the school today, but he got this place just for this meeting specifically. As for what this all is…" She paused, staring ahead at the television as it booted up, taking her time with her thoughts. "I'm supposed to talk to you about stuff. He doesn't want us watching the event, for uh… reasons, so I'm just going to explain everything to you and whatnot." She paused again, thinking for a moment before speaking again, "Yeah, that's it. You'll see a bunch of stuff and learn the gist of everything."

Kota opened his mouth to say something, but then just closed it since he didn't really have anything to say. What she told him pretty much answered his questions anyway. Instead, he chose to sit on the empty sofa and wait for the program to start. He took out his phone and messaged his cousin, Mandalay, that he would be out for a while longer. It was mainly to keep her from coming after him or worrying too much. She said it was fine.

As a minute or two went by and she messed with the television some more, because for some reason the channels cords were messed up, Kota's eyes ended up drifting to the girl. He couldn't help but wonder how someone only a year older than him was involved in this stuff. Granted, he was now too, in a way, but this was different. She herself didn't look like she really wanted to be there with him, either, so he could really only wonder. The smile she was giving him early must have been a façade, he thought.

Somehow, his mind started to admire her looks. She was actually a very pretty girl, and he couldn't help but-

Her eyes snapped over to look at him with a fierce glare. She had caught him staring at her, clearly, and he flinched under her gaze, "First of all, I'm never, and I mean never going to get into a relationship with someone. So quit ogling at me." Kota immediately looked away, a blush on his face. "Second of all, this isn't even my real appearance." Kota seemed surprised at that. She sighed, "Safety reasons, extra precaution. I'm sure you understand."

Kota dumbly nodded, a little frightened by her sudden snappiness. He understood why she was that way, if he were a girl he probably wouldn't want some guy staring at him like that either. He opted to just look the other way and avoid looking in her direction for the remainder of the wait. He understood why she was hiding her real appearance as well, so he didn't bother questioning it all too much.

His willingness to trust her, as well as the other person, was actually fairly high, he noticed. He didn't know why. Maybe it was the way they were? He couldn't sense any hostility or malicious intent from either of their voices, and the person he talked to before seemed genuine about his ideals and opinions. That was why he had initially started to ease up. Still though, he remained a little tense as the two sat in silence.

Eventually, she got the thing to work. She sat back down in her seat and told him to watch and pay attention to what happens. Kota didn't know whether to be intrigued or nervous.

\---

In Kamino Ward a large stadium was getting packed and full of people. The first billboard chart event since All Might had been driven to an early retirement in the Kamino incident against All for One.

Heroes and citizens alike piled into the stadium, all eager, some nervous and others shaking with anticipation with what was to come. Everyone knew how important this was for the future of heroes.

Before this particular event, heroes didn't appear onstage. This time was different, and everyone wanted to be there. The stadium was being sold out by the minute and the crowd just wouldn't let up.

The announcer for the event was next to a crew on the inside who had a camera, which was broadcasting the event live. She began to speak to the viewers both at home and in the stadium. People cheered and yelled as some of their favorite heroes were announced for the top ten.

"Starting with number ten, a hero who ended up dropping down one rank from number nine, is the Dragoon Hero: Ryukyu!" The announcer cheerful unannounced. Ryukyu sat up from her seat, a hand in the air as she walked toward the stage. She made some comment about not deserving it this time, but it went ignored by the general audience.

"At number nine, he went down too! He won't be defeated, though, we have the Equipped Hero: Yoroi Musha!" He stood up as well, commenting that he was plenty satisfied with his ranking, nor did he care much.

"Number eight! You may know him from the "Clean and Shiny" commercial, the Laundry Hero: Wash!" Wash seemingly popped out of his washing machine, waving his hands and yelling something out enthusiastically.

"At number seven we have a huge leap, Kamui Woods! He's a promising hero whose growth just doesn't seem to stop!" Kamui began to walk to the stage as well, his hand in the air as he commented on the fact he was honored to be picked. There was also side drama about whether he and Mt. Lady were in a relationship, but that was quickly dropped.

"Number six! From the orthodox school of manliness, he reliably keeps his ranking. Shield Hero: Crust!" He already stood in stage, crying to himself and mumbling about wanting to see All Might in action a little more before his official retirement.

"At number five we have a bunny with a determined spirit! Rabbit Hero: Mirko!" She flicked her hair back, smirking in no general direction.

"Number four is the mysterious ninja that had a huge jump in cases resolved and approval rating; Ninja Hero: Edgeshot!" He held a ninja-like pose on the stage, telling Mirko to be quiet after she made a snarky comment.

Before the top three started to get announced, the announcer started to speak to her audience. She mentioned that all heroes involved in the Kamino incident have seen an increase in their approval ratings.

"Even though he's currently on hiatus, he's still taking the number three spot! Fiber Hero: Best Jeanist! We're all waiting for him to return as soon as possible!" People clapped and cheered for Best Jeanist's ranking.

"Number two! He does things his own way, but he's incredibly fierce! Wing Hero: Hawks!" People cheered loudly for him, as the hero himself looked a tad bored as he stretched his limbs. He merely claimed it was an exaggeration, nothing more.

"And now… at number one-" she cut herself off as the lights in the stadium began to dim, a bright red light starting to make its way toward the stage. "He's been the temporary number one, but today… he's really, truly in the number one spot! He's waited a long time! Flame Hero: Endeavor!"

All of the announced heroes were now on stage, sans Best Jeanist who wasn't present. Someone had come to the front of the stage to speak, a lady from the hero commission, people assumed. She told them that people still thought that they lacked an icon, so they wanted to present the next heroes so everyone can work toward a peaceful society with them.

Then they started going around, one by one, asking for a comment from each of the heroes on stage. As the comments went by, with a confident warning from Mirko as well. hawks started to get increasingly bored. He sighed, unable to stop fidgeting in his spot. Everyone was basically saying the same thing, and he was getting tired of it.

Right when Edgeshot stopped speaking, Hawks made his move, "Who's gonna be happy listening to all of that? Stain?" Despite the silence in the place, one particular person couldn't help but imagine Stain foaming at the mouth out of pure happiness from what everyone was saying.

Some of the heroes and civilians present, though, had mixed reactions. Mirko smirked in his direction, exclaiming that she liked him due to his cheekiness. Edgeshot expressed his own discomfort at the interruption in his unique way as well.

Hawks gave off a few words in reply before walking up to the lady, taking the mic, and starting to speak, "Let's see…" his wings started to extend up behind him, levitating him into the air as he spoke. "If we're just talking about approval ratings… Best Jeanist is number one with the boost he just got from being on hiatus. Second is me, third is Edgeshot, forth Endeavor… I'll skip the rest." By now everyone had their eyes on him, Endeavor's standing out as a hard glare. "I think approval rating is the most important number right now, though. Is this really the time to be dragging out the past? You don't think we need to change how we do things? The Symbol is gone. At this "critical juncture," why are those less accomplished than me playing it safe? Say something that sounds more hero-like."

People amongst the crowd began to mutter and whisper amongst themselves. Clearly this was generating a mixed reaction from almost everyone. People commented on how they had previously seen him scowling, or how they couldn't tell what the winged hero was thinking.

Hawks, only twenty-two years old currently, started an agency at eighteen and had made it into the top them in the second half of that year. In the last ranking, he made it to the top three. He was the first person in history to make it to the top ten before the age of twenty. People say it was "too fast," over him being the fastest and youngest. People, as of now, don't know whether his behavior is due to his arrogance or just his way of doing things.

"That's all from me," Hawks commented, shooting downward from where he previously hovered. He moved next to Endeavor, handing off the mic to him with a cocky smile. "Now, go ahead, number one hero with a lower approval rating than me.

Endeavor snatched the mic from Hawks' hands, shooting him a cold glare. The two made eye contact, as Hawks slightly shifted his head upright. People anticipated what Endeavor would follow up with, believing it to be difficult for him to do due to the fact people could understand what Hawks said.

Endeavor held the microphone up to his mouth, taking a deep breath before speaking. After a moment, he spoke, "Just watch me."

Those three words left the entire place in a stunned silence. Nobody said anything, nor did anyone applaud. Actually, no, Hawks applauded him with a smile on his face.

"Just watch you?" Immediately, upon the sound of an unfamiliar voice echoing throughout the stadium, all heroes went on-edge. All of them formed defensive positions, others went to keep the civilians from trampling one another. There was a but of little panic amongst them, but the mass quantity of heroes present made it subside fairly quickly. "To me that's a load of utter bullshit."

The massive screen behind the stage began to static, changing from the logo that had previously been on screen to a shadowy figure. It's voice seemed to be modified into a deeper tone by some voice modifier. It seemed to be moving in real time, just his features were blocked out by some kind of shadow overlay.

"Who the hell are you?!" Endeavor shouted at the screen. Everyone's attention had been drawn to that now. The shadowy man looked to be actually glaring at Endeavor, but recomposed himself and sat straight.

"Who I am isn't important," the deep voice insisted. Many people glared at the screen. "What matters is all of you. This is your event, after all."

"You're with the League, then?" Ryukyu questioned, fairly calmly as a matter of fact. Some of the other heroes nodded to show that they were in agreement with the question.

Mirko developed a cocky smirk, pointing up at the screen, "Yeah, maybe you should just show yourself so I can send you flying!" A few people were uneasy about her threat, thinking it may not have been the best idea.

The shadowy man hummed irritatingly, "Don't lump me in with those fools." He waved a hand dismissively, also ignoring Mirko's little threat. "They're running around without a proper goal. They're just another set of criminals set on making a name for themselves. We don't align."

"Then what do you follow, then? Hmm?" Hawks seemed bored. His hands were tucked neatly in his pockets as he floated upward, most likely so the person on the screen would focus more on him. "You say you're not with the League, so you just stand for something. Right? To me, you're just another criminal. What makes you stand out?"

Endeavor looked at with a cautious gaze as the person on the screen let out a humph, seemingly impressed at the jab. "Your hero system is flawed. My goal is to reform the system." Those simple words left most people watching speechless, unsure what to think.

"So you're a Stain worshipper, huh?" Hawks inquired, making some of the people a little more scared at the comparison. "If you surrender now I'll see if I can get you two adjacent cells in Tartarus."

The figure laughed, clearly amused at Hawks cheeky comebacks, "Though we strive for the similar things our methods greatly differ." He paused, letting that sink in. "I do not worship Stain, no, but I do have it out for many of you… hero fakes." A lot of people, heroes in particular, began to get greatly offended by the implied insult. Before anyone could let out their outburst, he spoke again, "I know a lot about most of you. A lot of you have done some… questionable things during your times as a hero." He paused, taking the time to let out an amused laugh. He was going to enjoy this part, "Did you all know that Endeavor abused his family? Now you want him to be the number one hero? Ha!"

A lot of people present looked at Endeavor, who now sported a look mixed of both shock and unyielding rage. He looked like he was only a few seconds away from hurling fireballs at the screen. Hawks looked at Endeavor with a neutral expression, unsure as to what to think or even say.

Seeing as nobody was going to speak again after such an accusation had been made, the shadowy man decided to talk again, "I recommend you people look into that a little more. Maybe ask his wife, he's the whole reason her mental health deteriorated." He paused, preparing himself for his next piece of evidence. "Still in Endeavor. Did you know he has the highest kill count in hero history? That's a big deal! Not to mention the amount of property damage he inflicts every time he deals with a simple thug." He seemed to glare, specifically at Hawks. "You say approval ratings are the most important? Well, when people approve of something like that… it causes a problem. What's more important is that heroes should actually do their job. You heroes get away with far too much."

Hawks glared back up at the screen, seemingly ready to speak again, "We do our job to the best of our abilities. At least, I do. Many of us here do. Blatant accusations like that will get you nowhere."

"Oh, Hawks, you're right." He responded to Hawks immediately, which actually took him back a bit. "I'll be honest, you are one of the heroes I respect the most. Your work is efficient and you do what has to be done. For others, however…" the screen began to change into something else. A video recording of the Sludge Villain incident which occurred over a year ago. It specifically showed heroes such as Death Arms, Mt. Lady, and a few other minor heroes standing around as the villain choked out the kid in its grasp. "This incident acts as a really good example. The heroes here, instead of actively acting to try and save the life of an innocent kid, just stood around and, I quote, 'waited for someone with a suitable Quirk to show up'. That kid would have died if All Might hadn't shown up. What would you be saying then? Quirks aren't everything, you know."

Silence ensured as everyone genuinely considered his words. A lot of people ended up actually agreeing with what he said, while a lot of others considered it to be slander. There would definitely be controversy after this.

"Oh, here's another one!" The screen changed again, showing a burning building. The footage playing showed how heroes, once again, stood around and did nothing while a normal civilian did their job. "Oh, look at that, Death Arms again. But anyway, this is disgraceful. You stood by, again, and let a civilian do your job." The screen changed back to the shadowy figure as he spoke again. "There are more examples, but those should be enough for now. I'll be sure to get a lot of evidence out to the police and administration."

People glared at Death Arms, who shrunk under the intense pressure. Other heroes like Mt. Lady were also being glared at, which some of them simply couldn't handle.

Ryukyu spoke up again, trying to change the subject and alleviate the pressure from her colleagues. She was admittedly a tad fearful about what she was about to ask. "You said easily that you know a lot about us. Are you the information broker that's been selling information to villains?" She paused, letting the question sink in. A lot of other people voiced their opinions on the matter as well, agreeing with the question itself. She then hesitated to ask the next part, "Were you the one that killed Overhaul that day?"

The figure was silent for a moment, before chuckling to himself. A lot of people were taken off-guard by that, but remained vigilant. "An astute observation, Dragon Hero, although it was a bit of a stretch." He took a breath, recovering from his mass onslaught of the chuckles, "Yeah, I'm him, what of it?"

A lot of the heroes let out gasps of shock, mainly the ones that had been present during the raid. Ryukyu glared up at him. He didn't directly answer the second question, but she somehow knew that he did. She could feel the pit in her stomach grow as this went on.

Endeavor growled angrily, his flames glaring up to dangerous levels as he began yelling at the shadow man, "YOU BASTARD, WHAT DID YOU TO WITH THE GIRL!"

The shadow man on-screen seemed to once again glare at Endeavor, "What, didn't have enough of abusing your own kids so you want another? Did what happened with Toya teach you enough of a lesson?"

After that comment, Endeavor froze and the entire place erupted into an onslaught of yells and shouts directed at each other and the shadow man. Heroes blamed one another, and citizens present began berating a lot them. Endeavor was receiving a good blunt of the shouts, mainly from citizens, enraged that their soon-to-be number one hero had been a domestic abuser.

"Enough!" Hawks roared, feathers from his wings rushing out in a flurry to grab everyone's attention and stop the infighting. It worked fairly well, with a lot of people refocusing on the screen and quieting down. If the feathers hadn't gotten their attention, other people were quick to intervene and refocus everyone's attention. Once the place was quiet again, Hawks recalled his feathers and glared up at the screen. "You say that many heroes here fail to do their jobs. That may be true but people can change," he glanced at Endeavor from the corner of his eye. "You're overlooking most of the good heroes, as well as the good all heroes in general do, and are focusing too much on the bad of it all. Heroes, even the ones you're saying are bad, have saved many lives over the course of their careers."

The shadow figure didn't respond right away, taking his time to formulate a proper statement. "You know, Hawks, I used to think people could change too, I really did," the shadow man said. "But after getting bullied for years by the same person, I learned that not all people are created equal." He paused, letting that sink in. "Would you like to know what happened to him, after he abused me for years and while I rotted away in my sorrow?" Silence ensured, nobody spoke in response to his question. He spoke again, after nobody said anything for about a minute, "He got to attend the best hero school, not a scratch on his record. If people like that are allowed to become heroes, then the system is flawed."

A lot of people were now also questioning their current hero system, if what he said was true. Hawks too, even started to question it. He would be doing his own investigation into the backgrounds of many heroes, after this. Nobody said anything to the man on the screen, though, which gave him the opportunity to speak again.

"However," that got people's attention. A lot of people snapped their heads up at the screen, after previously looking away to converse and share opinions with others. "If you are so sure you heroes can change, I will give you one chance. One single opportunity to prove me wrong."

A lot of the heroes gulped and a lot of the citizens began to cower. They could feel something coming. Someone big, something dangerous. Hawks looked uneasy, "...what do you mean?"

The shadow man didn't answer right away, but when he did a lot of the heroes froze and tensed. His voice seemed sharper and somehow even deeper than the modifier was initially making it. "You are about to be attacked." A lot of heroes stood up and assumed defensive positions, forming circles around one another and beginning to try and calm a lot of the startled citizens. "If you prove me wrong, and show me that you heroes are capable of changing, then I will cease all of my activity." Heroes that were standing by defensively, even Hawks and a few heroes on stage, looked at the screen with a look of shock, "I shouldn't have to tell you what to do. So prove it, heroes."

Then the screen completely shut off, the screen turning back. Civilians began to panic and attempt to flee to the exit, trying their best to get out of harm's way before anything happened. Heroes were trying their best to evacuate people before this mysterious threat came.

Hawks did his best as well, landing on the ground and using his wings to sense people who were in difficult spots or about to be trampled. He used them to effectively snatch them and move them to another, safer location.

A majority of the heavier, more combat suited heroes started to make a perimeter around the place. To them it was the best strategy; they were around most of the place, so if the attack came from any particular place someone could hold it off long enough for reinforcements.

After only a few minutes of preparation the wall behind the screen, and in addition the screen itself, exploded inward after an intense force had rammed into it. A bit of dust flew in the air as the wall broke, but as it settled, almost everyone looking that way could see the black creature that emerged from the large hole in the wall.

It was large, possessing a muscle build and a long neck. It's head was shrouded by a good of skin, leaving the muscles on its neck and shoulders exposed. It spoke in a stutter, "Who… strongest?"

"A Nomu?!" Many heroes were shocked by what the attacker was.,The heroes immediately went to action, Ryukyu quickly transforming and others charging from all over the place to assist.

Endeavor started to glow extremely brightly, centered trying his flame into his fist. Hawks yelled for him before he could throw the attack, "Endeavor, you can't use that can't use that kind of firepower here!" Endeavor stopped right before he launched the attack, glaring at Hawks as the winged hero attempted to get as many people out as possible. "There are too many people in the building, and around! You'll risk injuring or even killing them!"

Endeavor considered his words for a few seconds before depowering his flame, making a 'tch' sound and moving a little little closer to the fight. He would have to act as mild support, since he couldn't use his full power. He hated that.

A fight was already starting to ensue, with Mirko making a fierce yet reckless jump and aiming a kick directly at the Nomu's head. The Nomu merely tilted it's head down at an incredible speed, dodging the kick entirely. It quickly spun around, extending its arms and essentially slapping her away. Mirko flew away and straight into and through the wall, breaking it and sending her flying away.

The Nomu hovered in the air, examining the other heroes that looked at it with caution and hostility. "I-Is th-that all?" Its arms extended as it began to rapidly spin, the jets on its shoulders flaring more as it did. The arms extended out further as it spun, delivering a devastating attack that knocked back a majority of the heroes out of the way and sliced clean through the building.

The building's structural integrity was now extremely low, and due to a good portion of it getting sliced away from the attack the top half of the building was beginning to collapse. More heroes that could see their uselessness in the fight began to rush to the citizens in an attempt to speed up the evacuation or save those that may be trapped.

Ryukyu was one of the first people to recover, barely feeling damaged from the attack and quickly started to press her own. She quickly attempted to grab the Nomu, but it was quick to use the jets on its shoulders to dodge. It sped up close to her and delivered a powerful blow to her stomach area, actually taking some of the wind out of her despite her resistance to blunt trauma. The Nomu then immediately pressed its other arm to her stomach and extended them out, pushing the Dragon Hero toward the crowd of people.

Before Ryukyu could hit anyone, a stone-like hexagon shield was formed to stop her in her path. The Shield Hero: Crust had been quick to act and use his shield, knowing she wouldn't be gravely injured from it, to prevent her from causing any harm to others.

Wash started to form an intense, high-pressurized water pulse from the center door of his washing machine body and shooting it upward at the Nomu. It was quick to dodge the stream of water, maneuvering it's way around it as Wash adjusted his aim and followed the Nomu's path.

The Nomu smiled, seemingly enjoying this, and prepared to go in for an attack on Wash by closing its fist and reeling it back so it could stoke. Before it could red streaks began to penetrate its body, freezing it in place. Wash seized the opportunity to get a direct hit on the attacking Nomu using his high pressure water.

The building, previously falling a slow place, began to start coming down with many people still inside. Ryukyu, after recovering, flew up to the roof, lifting it with her enhanced strength. She only had to keep it up long enough for everyone to get out safely, at least the civilians, though the roof was heavier than it looked and with the hit she just took it may take more effort than she thought to do the task. Mt. Lady as well actually tried to assist her with holding it up, which admittedly helped alleviate the pressure a lot.

Hawks continued doing what he could, but he unfortunately wasn't able to save everyone from falling debris or from the spin attack earlier. Many civilians lost their lives. What irked him, too, was the fact that many Pro Heroes, despite the villain's previous jabs, were still standing around being useless. Some of them just didn't know what to do with themselves, or just watched the fight and made no effort to assist. Others tried to help, especially with civilian evacuation, but a lot of them were ultimately getting in the way. Hawks' eyebrow twitched, but he kept his focus on helping civilians evacuate.

The heroes in the fight assessed the situation more thoroughly. At first they thought they'd won, believing that Wash's high pressure water completely erased his body. But, they were wrong. Someone was quick to call out the slow-falling head off to the side, making many heroes snap to look at it.

The head, upon being noticed, was quick to regenerate itself back to it's full body. Its arms extended out, aiming for both Wash and Edgeshot. The both tried to dodge, with Edgeshot using his quick to quickly evade the incoming attack. Wash, however, wasn't so lucky, being hit by the hand and quickly flung outside of the building.

The Nomu landed on the ground, almost as if it was perching itself there. "Boring. A-Aren't there any stronger heroes around?"

There weren't many heroes left that were willing or able to fight it, leaving Endeavor the only one standing on the field to take it. The Nomu looked at Endeavor, a chilling, satisfied smile making it's way into its face.

The Nomu, in an attempt to limit the interference of other, weaker heroes, began to eject many other Nomu from within itself. Nine other Nomu appeared and started to terrorize the still evacuating citizens and heroes.

Before it could do anything else, Endeavor burst forward lunging at the Nomu with a fistful of fire. The Nomu dodged, hitting Endeavor in the stomach with its own powerful fist. Endeavor didn't give, though, grabbing the Nomu with his arms and using his flames to thrust himself into the air and through the wall of the building.

Now being outside, Endeavor believed that he could more freely use his flames. He began to heat up, especially his fist. "PROMINENCE BURN!" He shouted, shooting a massive, concentrated beam of fire at the Nomu in an attempt to vaporize it.

The beam was aimed horizontally, accidentally grazing a few of the distant buildings. Endeavor heard a rustle from behind him, so he quickly turned. The Nomu had once again thrown its head to save itself and quickly regenerated again.

Endeavor was quick enough to dodge the extended arm, grabbing it with his own heated fist and spinning himself in an attempt to bring the Nomu closer. That didn't work, however, as the Nomu quickly used its wit to wrap the grabbed arm around Endeavor's body and then used that arm to launch Endeavor off into the far distance by performing a fast and powerful spin.

Endeavor crashed through a building before he finally stopped. Luckily, it had been a smaller high-rise with not too many people, though he didn't even bother to consider that at the moment, too focused on the Nomu he was fighting. It started to zoom toward him at an incredible speed, intending to ram right into him. Endeavor had no time to dodge, getting hit by the Nomu head-on.

Endeavor attempted to do the same strategy as before, but he was ultimately too slow and allowed the Nomu to use its arms to push him away. Endeavor was slammed into the streets below, getting the wind knocked out of him.

It was then Endeavor began to realize that this particular Nomu wasn't like the others. It was actively thinking, which made it even more dangerous. It was tactically thinking and making smart moves. He had to put it down before it could do anymore harm. Though, before he could even more, another attack was incoming which he was still on the ground.

Endeavor, despite his attempts to react quick enough, couldn't save himself from the Nomu's next attack. It sliced the left side of his face, most notably his eye. Endeavor began to fall from the sky, falling through the air at a rapid speed until he hit the ground with a devistanting amount of force.

The Nomu landed next to him, in the rubble of the destroyed section of places nearby. It seemed to be scouting for stronger foes, which couldn't be provided. Endeavor lay nearby, laying on his back on top of the rubble, bloodied, battered, beaten and unmoving.

The Nomu shifted its head around, looking around eagerly for a strong opponent. "Stro-Stronger h-heroes?"

After a little while of nothing, the Nomu has started to get increasingly bored. It used its shoulder-mounted jets to fly up into the air in search of humans. Once it did, however, a boom in the sky could be heard. The Nomu shifted its attention toward the sudden sound, pleasantly surprised to see green smoke trailing behind an approaching figure.

The figure flew horizontally toward it, as the Nomu observed, a mystical looking dome over where it's head should be. The suit the person wore was unique as well, looking quite technical and fancy. Once the figure was within a reasonable range, it adjusted it's stance to a vertical angle and opened the palms of its hands to reveal two green eyes in each, shrouded in a mystical glow, it seemed.

The Nomu's smile only increased. He looked strong. "Y-You… stro-strong?"

The Nomu received no response, but that didn't matter to it one bit. It rushed forward quickly, aiming to ram it as it did with Endeavor. The mysterious hero quickly assumed a pencil dive formation and dove downward, avoiding the attack and retaliating with his own green beam from the left hand.

The Nomu saw the attack coming, quickly dodging it and maneuvering around the following onslaught of green beams while somehow getting ever so closer to new hero. The Nomu, once it saw an optimal opening, launched itself forward at the mysterious hero. However, to it's surprise, it flew straight through the hero.

"H-Huh?" The Nomu spouted in confusion as the figure realigned their palm to face the Nomu.

"You'll have to try a little harder than that," The hero, now identified as a male with a bit of a muffled voice, said.

The Nomu attempted to lunch at him again, only for the hero to swiftly dodge and once again let out a flurry of green beams. The Nomu easily dodged, preparing its arms to extend out and hit the hero that way. Once ready, it launched its arms forward and powered through the green beams of energy. However, to the Nomu's surprise, it felt nothing from the beams, even though they clearly hit his hands.

The hero became intangible again, letting the arms pass through him and hit the empty ground. He flew up, shooting a green laser as fast as he could, which hit Nomu directly in the head. The laser, once it made contact, exploded into a bunch of thick green powder that obscured the Nomu's sight.

The Nomu was confused at first. Was it supposed to feel something from that attack? It was about to move again, but the sudden loud beeping in its brain stopped it. Confusion again overrides any other considered action, as it hovered and pondered what the beeping was. The beeping got faster and higher pitched, and before the Nomu even knew it, the powder surrounding it suddenly shot toward its brain. Then, the next thing anyone knew, the Nomu's brain erupted in a large explosion that made the entire upper half of its body split into various little bits and pieces. Various parts of the Nomu, particularly its brain, skin, and muscle, began to rain from the sky, as the lifeless body fell to the ground and landed with a heavy thud.

The hero landed to the ground near the bottom half of the body, seemingly ensuring that it was actually down for the count. Cheers began to erupt from nearby, most likely from citizens that were trying to evacuate and were able to witness the end of the fight.

Many people approached him, asking for his name and who he was. A news crew nearby had been recording everything as well, even some in choppers above had been recording.

A lot of other pros, as well as police, that had been outside assisting with the evacuation approach him to ID and question him. Some even grabbed his shoulders in pure shock or excitement over what had just occurred, but the new hero just shook them off. He pulled out his hero license, showing it to them to prove himself as a hero. Upon looking at it, they saw no problem with it.

They were about to question him more, but the voice of the shadow man from before the attack spoke up from somewhere unknown. "I'm not impressed. I'm beyond disappointed, and even outright furious." People were silent, everyone attempting to look for the source of the booming voice but to no avail. "I hope you all understand by point now. All of this… all of these deaths could have been prevented had you all known how to properly handle the situation and act in a crisis. The time the lot of you incompetent heroes took just standing around waiting, not knowing what to do with yourselves, you could have saved an innocent life. I believe this proves enough, you hero pretenders."

The voice then cut out, his message having been sent and definitely received by the entire populace.

The damage had been done, though. The fight, and the attack itself, had been devastating in the end. Civilians and heroes alike still lay lifeless in the large stadium. Outside, many people were injured, possibly dead, and damage to buildings as well as property in general had been severe.

Heroes try to recover who they can and rescue as many people as possible. Ryukyu and Mt. Lady had been able to get the roof out of the way long enough for most people to flee the stadium, but a lot of people weren't as lucky to make it out. They attempted to set the roof down in the empty portion of the stadium, but they couldn't control the extra falling debris and where they landed, however Crust did help a lot with that using his shield.

From what it seemed, more pros died than civilians. It seemed that a lot of heroes that wanted to assist in the fight, or were just too close, ended up getting caught in the Nomu's attacks and didn't have the durability or strength to survive it. There were also a lot of heroes that passed trying to save civilians, only to get crushed by falling debris. Heroes like Kamui Woods attempted to do their best to get as many people out of the way as possible, which in the end saved many lives.

A lot of citizens attempted to help in their own way as well, not just leaving it all up to the heroes. Some used their Quirks or skills in certain fields to help evacuate, which was greatly appreciated.

However, in the end, Hawks could only stare ahead at the carnage and destruction ahead of him with a dark look on his face.

\---

A video just ended, and Izumi couldn't help but groan as Kota gave her yet another uneasy glance.

"Please tell me you understand everything? I really don't want to sit through another video and go through another set of files just because you don't think there's enough proof."

Izumi couldn't help but glare at the boy. They had been there for what felt like hours just doing this. She just wanted to go home. Izuku was probably done with his stuff now, and it was probably even getting dark outside. She was just tired.

Kota seemed nervous, perhaps a bit scared, as he looked at her and responded, "Y-Yeah, I get it. I understand your ideals and stuff."

Izumi gave him an odd glance, which Kota admittedly didn't know exactly what to make of. She seemed to be studying him, which made him uncomfortable. He knew that she was already a little cranky because he was too stubborn for his own good sometimes. He didn't want to believe most of the stuff, so he kept asking for more evidence which made the girl want to throw him out of the window.

In the end, she ended up easing up on him. "Alright, here," she handed him a special phone, which confused him. "I was told to give this to you. It's untraceable, so any calls on here won't be tracked or logged." She glared at him, making him gulp. "Don't think about giving this to anyone, either."

He profusely nodded, showing he understood. She knew he wouldn't actually tell anyone, but she was a little snappy still and was just attempting to let off a little excess steam. Izumi then simply told him that someone, namely her brother, would be in touch about his final decision. To her, he seemed way too unsure and just plain nervous to consider trusting too much. She had been hard on him for some of those reasons as well, almost like a test to see how he'd act under pressure.

After she watched him leave, probably back to U.A. where he was staying with the Pussycatss, she took her phone out of her pocket, dialing her brother's number. After a few seconds of ringing, he answered, "Hey, Izumi, how'd it go?"

She shrugged, but after realizing he couldn't see it she responded, "It went fine, I guess." She sighed. "Though I'm sure you already know, since you're watching…"

He let out a lighthearted chuckle, "Yeah, sorry about that. I was getting a little worried."

She noticed a small change in his voice, which made her question, "Are you alright? Did everything go okay in your end?"

He was silent for a few moments, making Izumi a tad more worried for her brother, "I guess?..." He paused again, probably thinking about what to say next. "I don't really want to talk about it."

She frowned, "Alright," she simply said, not wanting to bother him over something that was obviously upsetting him. She attempted to change the subject, "What do you think about him?"

"Kota?" She hummed in response. He didn't answer for a few moments, but eventually told her something that shocked her, "Actually, I was hoping to hear your opinion on him. What do you think?"

Despite her shock at the prompt, she genuinely thought about it. After a minute of silence, she gave her opinion, "His sense of ideals are solid. I can see he genuinely believes in them. However, I don't think he has the will or resolve necessary for full membership."

"I see," Izuku simply responded, not needing much more than that. He was easily able to put the pieces together like that. "I'll have to consider this a little more, then."

\---

A/N: I try to cover my explanations for everything in this chapter down below here. If you're looking for something specific, try skimming until you see it. If it's not here you can leave a review to ask or DM me.

In case you're wondering, yeah, Dabi was the one speaking on the screen while Izuku was on the scene in person using his Mysterio façade. Subtle details. He was saying stuff Mysterio would say, albeit with a bit of Dabi-ness sprinkled in, while doing things Dabi would to- like glare at Endeavor. Yes, a lot of it was scripted, Izuku had a whole list of responses planned out, but Dabi had to improvise a bit too.

Regarding how Dabi knew about what to say on the Bakugo bully stuff, Izuku had given that to him on his list of responses. Just because you didn't see him do this on screen doesn't mean he didn't actually didn't do it.

If you're wondering "why did he reveal himself now of all times?", well, it was just the perfect opportunity to do so. He wanted to send a message to everyone to really show how unreliable a lot of the heroes can be, and what better time to do it then when most heroes are gathered up with a bunch of citizens. Damage control and civilian lives are two major factors that need to be considered while fighting villains, which is actually what some of the heroes ended up failing to consider here. Izuku succeeded in what he sought to do, as well. People from here on out will begin to question the heroes that are supposed to protect them.

I hope that made some sense, I can help clarify it a bit more if need be. There are also a lot of hidden factors at play, like the fact that he drew attention off of his hero persona by speaking again as the villain. People now 'know' that those are two different people, with the person on screen not being a recording due to the fact he responded to statements. Mysterio and the villain are now regarded as two different people, with people not suspecting any correlation between them.

Also, Izuku isn't just okay with what happened. He really does regret it, as seen from his last phone call with Izumi at the end. He doesn't like the fact that innocents died, but it was necessary to prove his point, which he definitely did since it was all covered live on camera for the world, or at least all of Japan, to see.

The next chapter will be a lot more tame and heart filled, but it's going to still carry the themes from this one.

As for Mysterio's reveal, his specifics haven't been fully addressed yet. That's what the next chapter will do, don't worry. His official hero name, what his task as a hero (which is essentially an explanation for why he hasn't been seen or anything before) and what the public thinks of him will all be in the next chapter.

I also don't think I need to explain what tricks Mysterio did in this chapter. If I do, just DM me and I'll explain it, but I think it's self-explanatory or obvious in the chapter. Just remember, he's calculating, he doesn't do things without reason. Don't assume recklessness first.

I'm also a little surprised nobody picked up the irony in the last chapter with the heroes saying they weren't gonna let a villain ruin the festival and then invited him in. It's in this chapter too, where Mysterio, or the black figure, gives a speech to the "hero pretenders" in which he himself, a fake hero, is in the crowd. Just thought that was funny.

Also a little surprised that nobody caught the fact that when Izuku was changing his appearance in the last chapter, he changed from Bakugo to Twice. Subtle but very informative about what Izuku really knows.

I know that it seems like Mysterio is recruiting really quickly, but it's actually not. Remember that, despite the chapters being right next to one another, some amount of time is passing in between each one. So the time in which Dabi and Kota were respectively recruited was weeks apart.

You'll get the student's and U.A. staff's reaction to the attack in the next chapter, as well as the more specific assessment of damage done from the attack.

I'm, admittedly, a little unsure as to what I should do with Kota. I was originally going to put him in the Sinister Six, but now I'm a little unsure. I'm wrestling him with another potential member, since the other two I have confirmed spots for. I could just make Kota an associate, like Gentle Criminal and La Brava, though. He's necessary in the plan later, but won't actually do much until then. So I may just give him association status.

Also, people fail to realize or overlook the fact that Kota is actually a year younger than Eri in canon. I kept that difference here. Also, yes, Eri/Izumi is asexual. Not a big deal but something I'm clarifying.

Also, I totally feel that Izumi's theme should be something like "mope mope".

Now, if you'll excuse me, my hand is cramping. Hope you all enjoyed it!


	9. Received

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Multiple people receive the message in their respective light.

Chapter 9:  
A/N: I’m pleasantly surprised that the last chapter went as well as it did. This chapter will, in fact, be a lot tamer.

Also, I do want to apologize for my wacky update schedule. I don’t have set times where I work on this so it’s just whenever. I hope the length of the chapters more than makes up for that, though.

Let me address some of the main points now before anything else.

I thought Dabi was just the more competent choice. I do like his character a lot, but overall for this type of thing I just think he fits more of the role Izuku needs compared to Spinner. Spinner will get his moment eventually, though, don’t worry. Dabi is going to have more of a character plot than Spinner would too, so that was another major contributing factor.

Kota will not be a part of the Sinister Six main team, instead he will be an associate that comes in when he’s needed. I had already been considering it, but yeah, he just won’t have a big enough role in anything that warrants such a high position. Speaking of which, though, I do have a possible replacement for his initial spot. I’m considering the technicals of it, but I think it’s a pretty good choice on my part.

You’ll start getting into the deeper stuff soon, but this is mainly a bit of the calm before the storm. This chapter is tamer, but will include extremely important plot points. This chapter will mainly focus on the aftermath of the attack, along with a few other things.

You also get to find out a lot more about Izuku’s warehouse in this chapter. It’s really not what you’d expect, but in the future you’ll understand why I’m making it this way. It’ll probably make you want to ask questions like “who the hell is Izuku’s father if he has that kind of place.” Well, you’ll find out eventually. I did leave hints for it in this chapter, though.

I’ll say now, this isn’t going to be a complete Bakugo bash story. He needs to be punished for what he’s done, of course, and a lot of people are gonna have it out for him, but he has a redemption arc planned.

On one last note, the romance in this story is used to fuel the plot and the characters. So, it’s there for a reason, not just fan service. I’m sure you know what I’m making the main pairing by now, and I just want you all to know that it’s more than just straight fan service, it actually leads character development and the plot along. This will become a lot more evident in the later chapters.

Current Sinister Six Lineup:  
Izuku Midoriya (Mysterio)  
Izumi (Eri) Midoriya (Scorpion)  
Dabi (Molten Man)  
??? (???)  
??? (???)  
??? (???)

Associates:  
Gentle Criminal and La Brava  
Kota Izumi (???)

I dunno what I should refer to Gentle Criminal and La Brava as. If anyone has suggestions for new aliases for them, let me know.

I should probably say that sometimes, on this site, when you leave a review, it won’t show up. It’s a glitch in their system, I think. I get an email about it, so I can still see it, but it won’t show up on the review list on the site. Don’t worry, it’s still there.

—

Approximately a total day after the attack at the Hero Billboard Chart event, the teachers of U.A. were once again having another meeting.

Everyone from the last meeting had shown up, including the Detective, with a few additional people from the police force. Everyone in the room most notably had a grim facial expression, clearly not looking forward to the topic that needed to be discussed.

“Is…” the Detective started to speak, but trailed off. He took a deep breath, almost as if he was calming himself. “Is everybody ready to begin the discussion?”

Numerous nods occurred throughout the room. The extra people from the police began to hand out special forms and papers to all of the teachers, except Nezu. Upon looking at the first sheet of paper, many of them started to express their concerns.

“What is this?” Present Mic spoke, holding up his own paper. “A contact to give the students their full licenses a year early? Is the administration mad?!”

The Detective sighed, flipping a few papers on his clipboard. “The administration wants more heroes out on the field now more than ever.” Everyone turned their eyes to him, giving him their own set of curious gazes. “Three-hundred and fifty-Seven heroes died during the attack, with a similar number in those that are injured. Additionally, with new evidence coming out, many heroes are starting to experience backlash.”

Nezu nodded, agreeing with the Detective. He spoke as well, “A lot of people died during that attack. They’re still trying to find bodies from the rubble.” He clenched his teeth, and maybe his paws too, out of pure anger. He wasn’t happy with what had happened, at all. “Although a lot of people were saved, the biggest problem is that people are actually agreeing with the villain.”

Some of the teachers looked at Nezu with bewildered expressions, almost not believing what he said. Eraser Head folded his hands together and stared down at the table, saying just barely above a mumble, “Like what the villain said after the attack, people believe that if certain heroes knew how to act then the deaths could have been avoided.” Some of the teachers that didn’t quite understand now had some level of it, but Eraser Head wasn’t done. “In actuality, I agree with it as well.”

“Shota!” Present Mic roared, slapping both of his hands on the table. “You can’t possibly agree with what happened! That attack… just to prove a point. It’s messed up!”

Eraser Head glared up at Mic, “I don’t agree with how it was shown, but the message itself I do. Though, I can understand why this villain did it the way he did.” He sighed, “Think of it logically. Would you want those kinds of heroes on the streets? Your life in their hands?” A lot of teachers looked at him questionably. Aizawa continued, “I sure as hell wouldn’t. He wanted to convey that message through something the entire couldn’t just turn a blind-eye to.”

That got a lot of them thinking. A lot of the heroes that had been on the scene, were in the simplest of words, not heroes. They didn’t do their job: protecting citizens from harm. A lot of them just stood by and watched as the carnage ensued; none of them wanted those kinds of heroes on the streets.

“I must say, I do agree with this as well.” The Detective spoke again, which drew everyone’s eyes to him. “Although the method the villain used wasn’t ideal, it has brought a lot of things to light.” The Detective flopped a page, “For one, Endeavor is being fully investigated. He’s still in critical condition at the hospital, so he is unable to be questioned, but some of his family have been fairly cooperative. More specifically, Todoroki Natsuo. The hero administration has been quiet about the case, as well.” A lot of the heroes present looked exceptionally grim at the mention of that, especially Toshinori. “There have also been a multitude of other heroes that have had their licenses terminated from the more blunt evidence suggested, such as Death Arms.”

“But, why do they want to send our students out into the field so early?” Present Mic reiterated his question from before, looking at the Detective with an unsure expression.

“I’ll answer that for you, Present Mic,” the door to the room opened to reveal Tsuragamae Kenji, the chief of police. He stepped into the room with his own stack of papers on a clipboard, “I apologize for my tardiness,” A lot of people shook their heads to show that it was alright. The Police Chief turned to Present Mic, “To answer the question you had, it is mainly due to the heroes we currently have in action falling short of what they are supposed to be.” Some of the teachers raised a brow at this. He continued, “After the attack on the Hero Billboard Chart event, people’s trust and faith in heroes are starting to drop. There are already mass protests in places like Musutafu, Jaku, Tokyo and Hosu. We need heroes that can not only instill that bit of faith but also hope. We need to show the people that the next generation of heroes are better.”

Nezu nodded in agreement, “This is why I’ve already signed it.” Many of them looked at Nezu with a look of shock, “The heroes on the field right now… they aren’t heroes. Our heroes, the ones we’re training, they are going to have to be the face of what a hero should be.”

“The administration is pushing for the hero course students, at least for the time being, will get their licenses a year early.” The Police Chief spoke again, “This will mean all current third years will receive their licenses immediately, second years after this last semester and the first years the following. This is all still subject to change, so please keep an open mind. Similar forms have been sent to most of the other schools in the country, as well.”

Not seeing any real reason to argue against the reasons given all of the teachers readjusted themselves and signed the forms, although hesitantly. Once they were done, the forms were collected and stacked in a pile for later.

Eraser Head grunted, “Now I have to adjust my lesson plans. This is going to be hell for them.”

Nezu nodded, “Yes.” The hybrid looked toward his, arguably, best teacher and started to explain some things, “Even after they get their licenses, they will still attend the school. You will still be able to teach them after they received them, during their third year, but you should prioritize the more important things as soon as you can.”

The Eraser hero rolled his eyes, “So, in summary, it’ll be hell for them.”

Midnight raised her hand, respectfully interjecting herself with a question. “Do you have any additional information you can share with us regarding the top heroes as a whole? Everyone is in the dark about that.”

Ectoplasm spoke up as well, “I too have been wondering about that. With the Billboard Chart having been attacked, amongst other things, what are they planning to do?”

The Police Chief hummed thoughtfully, “Truthfully I am unsure myself. A lot of the top pro heroes almost immediately fell in battle against the Nomu, in which people are beginning to lose faith in them. This may affect the way they are ranked in the future, but as I said I am unsure.”

Thirteen raised a hand next, “Do you have any information on the top heroes? Perhaps their conditions or thoughts on the matter?”

The Police Chief sighed, “Endeavor is still in critical condition in the hospital. Nobody is sure as to what will happen with him after the ongoing investigation is finished.” The teachers nodded, already knowing about that one. The Police Chief looked a little unsure before saying the next one, “Although people are commending him for his outstanding call to action and quick thinking during the attack, Hawks is completely silent. Nobody has heard from him; not even his agency really knows anything.”

That worried a lot of them. Hawks, as was shown from him during the event, was usually a typically carefree and pretty energetic person. He would usually do things in his own unique way and people loved that about him. The fact that he was totally silent, not saying anything, was worrying.

“Additionally Best Jeanist is on hiatus. Nobody has heard from him, either. Ryukyu and Crust were fortunate enough that their Quirks gave them enough protection. They were relatively unharmed and are currently working with their agencies and people to try and calm everything down. From what we have noticed, people are commending them for doing their best to keep people safe during the attack; especially in Ryukyu’s case in which she held up the roof to prevent people below from being crushed.” 

A lot of them were relieved to hear that. Those two were extremely well known and liked heroes among the populace for their good deeds and humble attitudes. They were great heroes and still are.

“Wash unfortunately died during the attack.” Many eyes widened as the Police Chief took a heavy breath. “He took a critical hit and it inevitably caused an internal injury that was unable to be treated. Expect this to be announced publicly soon and there will be a memorial held for him in a week's time.” Seeing everyone looking grim, the Police Chief moved to the next one. “Edgeshot suffered little to no injuries as well. After initially failing to fight the Nomu, he assisted civilians in evacuation. He is now similarly working with police to stop the protests.”

The teachers were once again glad to hear that another hero had done the right thing. A lot of them respected the fact that when he had failed to fight, he immediately moved to doing what he actually could do; which was helping with the evacuation. Toshinori, especially, was glad to hear that, mainly because he had worked with the Ninja Hero a few times and respected him for his work, as well as his abilities.

“The following heroes, Mirko, Yoroi Musha and Kamui Woods are all being treated for injuries.” The Police Chief explained. “Yoroi Musha had been in the crossfire of the attack that initially separated the roof from the building. His specific injuries haven’t all been identified yet. Kamui Woods was crushed by a multitude of debris while helping people evacuate. Overall, his injuries are nothing too major and he should be released within the week.” A lot of heroes sighed in relief at that, but they caught their breath at what the Chief said next. “Mirko, however, sustained much more serious injuries. Her leg, after being flung out of the area, had gotten impaled by an incredibly rusted piece of metal.” A lot of heroes winced at that, their own legs starting to hurt a bit at the thought. “Luckily a medical team got to her before infection could really set in, so there should be no need for an amputation, but she will still require a lot of physical therapy before she is able to return to the field.”

Silence ensued again after that, nobody really knowing what to say after those entire bombshells had been released upon their heads. Toshinori, though, looked to Nezu with a questioning look. The hybrid noticed and looked at the retired hero with his own curious gaze, “Is there something you would like to ask, Toshinori?”

He nodded, “A few things, actually.” Nezu nodded, allowing him to ask what he wanted. “Well, I was wondering if what that villain said was true. Did U.A. really let something, a tormenter, into the school and allow them to become a hero?”

Nezu’s expression turned sour at the question, “Since yesterday, I’ve been thoroughly investigating each and every one of our current and past students.”

“So that’s why you were unreachable at all this morning and yesterday…” Toshinori mumbled, Nezu nodding in conformation. Toshinori could definitely understand Nezu’s… enthusiasm to get it done. Toshinori knew that Nezu had zero tolerance for people like that, considering everything the hybrid had been through in his past “Have you found anything out yet?” 

Nezu hesitated to respond, “Perhaps, but it doesn’t add up.” Upon receiving a questioning gaze from Toshinori and a few of the other teachers, especially Aizawa, Nezu decided to continue, “The only one I could find that had a questionable background was Bakugo Katsuki. He’s from Aldera, a school notorious for its loose disciplinary action. Everyone else, in the hero course at least, went to schools that have little to no tolerance for any sort of behavior like that.”

Aizawa nodded, “That is true, we never accepted anybody from a school like that before.” People looked toward the tired teacher. What he said had some merit. Aldera had so many complaints, some even legally, centered around it’s disciplinary choices. “I thought it was just his personality, but the excess anger he possesses could be something more than just that.”

“There was also his speech at the Sports Festival,” Midnight said, bringing up another good piece of evidence. “He said that he was, admittedly, a jerk. You think there may be a little more to it?”

Aizawa nodded his head in conformation, “Yeah. Though, as Nezu said, a lot of things don’t add up. For example, why was his record completely unscathed if he used to be a bully?”

Present Mic rolled his eyes, “That’s because of Aldera. They’ve always wanted to get a kid into the hero course. I’m willing to bet that they saw a kid with a promising Quirk walk through their doors and saw a prize.”

Nezu sighed, “While all of that is indeed true, there is another thing that doesn’t add up. First of all, Detective, I’ll need you to do research on this. Please look into Aldera as best as you can, as well as the students that went there. If the evidence against the school is enough, we’ll pursue legal action to get them shut down. For the students, just bring me the most severe cases; I would like to personally look into them.” He received a nod in conformation. Nezu continued shortly after taking a breath, “What the villain said. He spoke in past tense about the student we accepted.”

Aizawa hummed, “So he’s either a liar or he’s younger than we initially thought.” Nezu nodded, Aizawa sighed. “A shame, really. If it’s a kid, they must’ve had it bad to turn to villainy at such a young age.”

“That’s why I’m pushing to get this done as soon as possible,” Nezu stated harshly. “Detective, this is now your top priority; the spy can wait.”

“With all do respect, sir,” Toshinori interjected, gaining Nezu’s attention. “Isn’t it unwise to take our attention away from the spy? The League may have gone quiet for now, but I still feel… bad, about leaving someone like that here.”

Nezu nodded, showing he understood what Toshinori was saying. “I do not mind your interruption, do not worry. As for your concerns, if this can help us identify this villain as soon as possible, then it takes priority.”

The Police Chief also nodded his head, “Due to demands from multiple heroes and considering the amount of damage caused, as well as knowledge and unknown factors this villain may possess, he is now ranked at S-Class.”

“Woah, woah!” Present Mic suddenly loudly exclaimed, a little surprised at what the Police Chief just stated. “Did you just say S-Class? Isn’t that a little too far?”

“It is not,” the Police Chief confirmed firmly, yet not bothered by the interruption. “We considered all of the evidence before affirming this. Not only is the information broker, who has not only sold hundreds, if not thousands, of information to villains about a multitude of different heroes, but also the person who killed the villain Overhaul, as confirmed by the villain himself.” Everyone winced at the memory of the villain’s body. It was truly horrifying to see. “We can also assume he has the girl, Eri, in his possession, which gives him the ability to keep producing the Quirk Suppressing bullets if he so wanted to.” Join realizing that, many of the teachers present began to get a tad nervous. Aizawa, especially, wasn’t looking too well, as someone who had been present during the raid and personally saw the remains of Overvaul, he could only imagine. “He has also been shown to be highly intelligent, as he was able to hack into the system at the Hero Billboard Chart event, and has a variety of different resources at his disposal. There are also a variety of unknown factors about him to consider, like Quirk and level of power. Thus, his rank skipped A-Class and went to S-Class.”

Present Mic, now sweating nervously, only gave a small nod in response. That had answered his question with a little more information than he would’ve been comfortable knowing.

“Additionally this means this villain shares the same priority as villains Shigaraki and Twice.” Was the last bit that was added, just as a reminder to not forget about the League entirely.

“If I may, I still have another question.” Toshinori inquired, reviving a nod from both Nezu and the Chief of Police. “The hero, the one that brought down the Nomu, there hasn’t been much information about him going public and I myself haven’t gotten much information on him in general. The only thing I really know is that the public seems to commend him for defeating the Nomu when everyone else failed which is already giving him quite the reputation. Is it possible for you to give us some insight on who he is?”

Upon the chorus of murdered agreement amongst the teachers, the Police Chief nodded, looking at his own sheet of paper. “His hero name is: The Mystery Hero: Mysterio. His Quirk is unknown, as is his name and looks. He kept the dome around his head up at all times. He was very strict about those, we thought he was paranoid but didn’t press on it. It is logical to keep those secrets, in case of possible spies or villains lurking in even the mist unsuspecting corners. Plus, he did save a lot of lives, after all.” Collective nods, aside from Nezu, occurred throughout the room. “When we questioned him, we found nothing out of the ordinary. He’s actually been active for a few months now. His license was confirmed and a director of the administration vouched for him. He is also an independent hero without an agency; he claims to work better that way.”

Aizawa raised a brow, his attention more so grabbed after the last statement, “What does he specialize in? With a flashy Quirk like that I find it hard to believe we’re only just hearing about him now.”

The Police Chief didn’t respond right away, clearly thinking about something, “This is technically classified, but since you are all heroes involved in the cases I see no reason not to inform you.” The teachers sat up a bit straighter, their full attention on the Chief of Police. “He specializes in a multitude of different aspects of hero work.” He looked down at a sheet of paper, “He works especially well at private investigations and is appointed to specifically follow the broker case. He has also been working on the League’s case and new Meta Liberation Army as well.”

“I see, thank you.” Toshinori thanked the Police Chief for answering his question, in which was responded with a nod from the dog man. “I assume some of the information about the hero will be published soon?”

Another nod from the Chief of Police, “Yes. People are demanding to know who he is, mostly to express their thanks than anything. He saved a lot of lives by destroying the Nomu.” He paused, thinking about the next thing he would say. “As for information we plan to give out, it will most likely just stick to his hero name. Funnily enough, we’ll cater to it. A mystery and all that.”

“Has he found anything out yet?” Midnight asked curiously. She, like most others in the room, were also wondering about this.

“Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like it.” The Police Chief responded, earning a bout of disappointment from the staff. “We do not blame him, though. The League and Army are extremely secretive on their own and the broker is even more so. There is a snippet of information on the League he was able to conjure up. There is a file in the handouts that explains it, if you’re interested.”

Some of them started to go through their handouts, browsing the pages and looking at the massive amounts of information. They found the page they were mainly looking for, about the League, beginning to scroll through it curiously.

‘SLAM’

The door to the room slammed open, making everyone jump as the heroes assumed defensive positions. An officer ran into the room, a little sweaty and really nervous looking. The heroes stood down upon seeing that it was an officer, but had annoyed looks on their faces nonetheless.

“P-Pardon my…. intrusion.” The officer was gasping for air. He must’ve run there from somewhere and he didn’t look like he was someone that was in the best of shape.

“What is it, officer,” The Police Chief asked as more of a statement. “This is an important meeting.”

“We… received a… distress call,” the officer leaned against the wall to try and catch his breath a little better. The teachers, as well as the officers present, began to get nervous.

“Well, spit it out!” The Chief of Police ordered. “Who sent the distress call?”

The officer let in a large breath of air, looking specifically at Toshinori, “...Nighteye.”

If you asked anyone in that room what Toshinori’s face had turned into, they’d tell you that the man had likely seen death itself.

—

Around twenty three hours before the initial meeting between the U.A. teaching staff took place, the students in Class 1-A were gathered in the common area, along with Aizawa, just blankly staring at the screen.

Many of them shared similar expressions, ranging from horror to petrified, or possibly even being relieved. Overall, everyone was a mess.

The broadcast had forcibly shut down after the attack ended, due to multiple demands from heroes on the scene. A lot of them were still in shock, though. The whole thing was just both surreal and unreal at the same time.

One of the worst looking people had been Todoroki. His face was just horrorously blank. It was like he had seen a ghost, almost, after he saw his father’s unmoving body lying on the rubble.

Katsuki was just one of many people to feel an undying rage brun within his chest. Seeing those heroes just get tossed around like that, being embarrassed, made a pit form in his stomach. He felt more fuel to his rage when he could clearly see ‘heroes’ just watching the fight, or just standing around like statues; that was the whole point the villain was trying to make, and they were just proving it. That was another thing that pissed Katsuki off was the fact that this — all of this — was just so the villain could prove a point. A point. That was it.

Yui didn’t know what to think. There was a heinous mixture of different emotions swirling around inside of her, while her expression stayed the same. On one side she was incredibly furious about what had transpired, but on another she understood. She didn’t like heroes like that either. Did they deserve to be punished? Yes. Did they deserve to die? No. Innocent people died just to show that not all heroes were good. She hated that and she was sure others were thinking the same way.

Katsuki stormed out of the room, following Aizawa out after he left. Yui didn’t exactly know what his deal was, because he looked to be seconds away from literally exploding. She suspected that he was going to train, or something along those lines. Perhaps something to vent his anger on, or maybe to train. Kirishima followed him, as well.

Everyone else was just in too much shock to say or really do anything. It was understandable, really. Yui herself had her mind plagued by other things.

Most notably, a thought that haunted her was the girl: Eri. The villain had publicly admitted to being the one that killed Overhaul and, although the initial question was dodged, it can be assumed that he has the girl in his possession as well. The thought made Yui a little sick.

Of course, she didn’t exactly know what this villain was doing with her. However, the possibilities were what was getting to her. She couldn’t help but think that this particular villain was doing the same thing Overhaul did: harvesting Eri’s flesh into bullets that can suppress or even erase Quirks.

She left the dorm to get some fresh air. She didn’t want to be around her classmates right now, especially when she felt like she would throw up at any given moment. The sights she saw during the attack didn’t really help in the matter, either. So, she ended up roaming around various walkways on campus to try and relieve the stress she had subtly building up inside.

Something did pique her curiosity, though. A hero she, nor anyone in her class, at least, had seen before swooped in to save the day. She didn’t know much about that hero and she couldn’t help but wonder about him or her. 

She really hadn’t meant to pull out her phone and open Izuku’s contact, but instinctively she knew about his analysis skills and thought that, just maybe, he’d end up knowing something nobody else did.

She ended up calling his number and putting the phone to her ear, letting the sound of the ring fill her ear. After around thirty seconds of waiting for him to answer, the line went to his voicemail. She didn’t bother to leave one, she saw no need, so she just took the phone away from her ear and ended the call.

She couldn’t help but stare at her phone sadly. She didn’t know why she felt the way she did about him simply not answering, but she did. It was something that she had been thinking about for a while, as a matter of fact. Every so often, when she thought about him, her heartbeat would increase ever so slightly.

Now, she wasn’t one to know emotions. The whole thing of starting to more openly express herself and actually have certain emotions well up inside of her was still new. But, even with her limited knowledge on them, she still knew that what she was experiencing wasn’t exactly normal. She wanted, so badly, to just talk to someone about it. But, the problem was, how the heck could she even do that? She initially wanted to talk to Izuku about it, but since he was the epicenter of the problem she ended up dismissing that idea. She didn’t really know if her parents would understand and knew for a fact that Toshinori knew absolutely about love or anything similar. Then there was Kendo, which was a whole different story. Then, she just considered looking it up but had trouble describing it. How could she properly describe emotions if you didn’t know-

She was cut off of her rambling thought train when she heard footsteps approach from the side. She stopped walking for a moment, turning her head to face the individual that she was about to intercept. She was actually surprised when she saw the face of a very familiar, blonde third year with his facial expression wearing a depressing frown.

He seemed to notice her as quickly as she noticed him. He seemed to have the strength to flip his frown into a ghost of a smile and greet her with a small wave of his right hand, “Hey, Kodai. I was actually looking for you.” He lowered his hand and began approaching her. She could already sense his depressing aura. He pointed his thumb back to the general direction her dorm was in, “I was actually looking for you, but nobody back at your dorm knew where you were.”

“Mm,” was all she could really say. She knew why he sought her out. It was most likely about Eri. She, in all honesty, held a bit of a grudge against her senior for what he did back in the alleyway when they first encountered Eri. Yui knew that he was only doing his job, but it still stung knowing that letting that girl go ultimately never led to her rescue. She kept thinking that, if she had run away with the girl that day, she would be here.

Togata stood by her side, looking down at her. She looked up at him, noticing the ghost of a smile was beginning to fade from his face and return to the frown it once possessed. After a few moments of silence, he stepped forward, ahead of her a bit. He held out a hand, gesturing forward, “Do you mind if I join you on your walk? I kinda want to talk to you about some stuff.”

She only nodded to him in response, triggering them both to continue walking. At first the two walked in silence, just silently roaming around the campus. It was clear to Yui that Togata was uncomfortable starting the conversation. It was one of the few things she could identify, mainly from experience. So, she decided to help him out, “This is about Eri and the villain, isn’t it?”

She noticed him gulp, giving a subtle nod. He obviously wasn’t really looking forward to the conversation. “It is,” he spoke, his voice low and eerily lacking it’s usual cheery beat. “He…” his fists clenched instinctively, his teeth gritting. But, he calmed himself down, his fists loosening back out. “He took her because of my negligence.”

Yui looked at him, surprised at the implication. She knew, just from that statement, that he was blaming himself for what had ultimately happened to her. “You blame yourself.”

He nodded again, this time more obviously. He turned to look at her, his eyes carrying his emotions. They were heavy, tired, even. “I shouldn’t have made you let her go. I’m sure if- I’m sure if we had to we could have beat him together easily.” He looked away again, suddenly not feeling brave enough to look at her in the eyes. “I failed, in every aspect of being a hero, and I don’t deserve my name ‘Lemillion’”.

She looked at him, and though her face didn’t explicitly show it, she was shocked. Togata thought that he didn’t deserve his hero name. No, it was probably deeper than that. She suddenly felt a familiarity about this situation, like how she felt after the initial failure at the raid.

Lemillion was the name Togata had given himself based on his goal, she remembered. His goal: to save a million people during his time as a pro hero. An admirable goal that she thought was perfect for the job. Togata himself was the epitome of what a hero should strive to be: selfless, helpful, kind, and definitely a lot more. He had his flaws, but ultimately, go her at least, would make a great hero.

She stumbled on what to say to him as he looked depressingly to the side, her lack of response likely making him think she resented him. She couldn’t help but think back to the beach, the time she consulted Izuku. She remembered, word by word, what he had said to her that day. How could she not? The words he spoke had truly helped her out a funk she wasn’t sure she’d even escape. When she looked at the third year in front of her, who was experiencing the same thing she had been at that time, she knew what she had to say.

Before she could speak, he spoke again, “I understand if you resent me for my failure. I know that-”

“I don’t resent you, Togata,” she interrupted his senseless yammering with a blunt statement. She continued, but took Izuku’s signature way of calming one's nerves, taking a deep breath, before continuing, “A good friend of mine once told me that all heroes have their wins and losses. You can’t be expected to win or succeed in every situation you come across. Sometimes you fail, and that’s okay.”

She wasn’t the best at motivational speeches, but the reason for her being so good at this one was because she literally just copied what Izuku did. Really, she was relying on him too much. 

Togata only looked at her, bewildered at the realization of what she said. He wiped his eyes, seemingly getting rid of tears that had been previously threatening to form. He smiled, this time a genuine smile, “That’s a wise friend you have there.”

She ended up smiling too, glad someone else recognized Izuku’s motivational skill. “I know.” She said nothing more than that, but the message to Togata had been conveyed. He quickly recomposed himself, smiling and assuming a signature heroic pose.

“You’re right, though,” he loudly proclaimed into the sky, somewhat startling the usually timid girl. “I shouldn’t just give up after one failure! I need to keep fighting, for Eri’s sake!” He smiled down toward Yui, grabbing her hand and engaging in an intense handshake to show how grateful he was. “Thank you, Kodai!”

She smiled and gave him her signature response, “Mm!” She knew that Togata- no, Lemillion would give it his all to save her. She would, too. 

Shortly after that, the two walked with one another back to Yui’s dorm where they eventually parted ways. Togata ultimately had a better attitude than before, which was good. Yui was glad she was able to help him out of the funk she had similarly been in before, even though her advice was just copy and pasted. Really, she needs to do more for Izuku. Maybe treat him to a beach day or something.

Her phone dinged once she reached her dorm room. When she pulled it out, she couldn’t help but think of the ‘speak of the devil’ catchphrase. Though, now that she thought about it, was it really the same thing? Technically she didn’t speak about him, only thought about him. So, does that still count toward the catchphrase? Does it warrant the use of it? That’s a another thing she should look up later.

She refocused her mind back on the text she received, letting out a disappointed sigh but also expressing a small smile in response to what she read.

Izuku: I’m sorry I didn’t answer your call. I’m sorta busy at the moment. I’ll call you sometime tomorrow morning, if that’s alright? If you’re busy I don’t want to be a bother.

Izuku was, at least to her, naturally self-belittling. He did it sometimes when the two talked, often putting himself down in comparison to other people. She suspected it was the result of bullying, perhaps years of it, but didn’t have the proof to tell someone about it. Asking the guy directly would likely either lead to a dead end or him getting defensive, or both. She didn’t really want either of those outcomes, so she just opted not to bother asking. If she did, by some way, get evidence on who bullied him, she would immediately get Toshinori involved. She couldn’t exactly explain why, even if she tried, but she had this sort of protective instinct around Izuku. Not that she really complained, nor cared, about it.

She, in response to his message, bluntly told him that, no, he wasn’t a bother and that he could call anytime he was ready and that she would be looking forward to it. Aizawa, before he had left the dorms after the broadcast ended, had immediately told the class that they would not be having classes tomorrow. Something about a meeting, or something going on during that time. After that, he told her that he would call to talk about the possibility of hanging out. Immediately, she responded with ‘gladly’.

She flopped onto her bed, spreading her arms out onto the sheets. She had let her phone slip out of her grip when she initially landed, so it was just by her side. She couldn’t help but keep the small smile on her face as she looked blankly up at the ceiling, the race in her heart suddenly returning. She knew that she could be training, or doing something similar, right then, but these feelings just confused her and made her feel so differently she didn’t entirely focus on that.

Despite everything that was happening recently, these strange, foreign feelings kept overriding any sense of despair the girl would ever muster up. It would always just dissolve under the other feeling which was much stronger than that could ever be.

She sighed, actually giving off an uncharacteristic amount of bliss and satisfaction from it. She had a feeling that tomorrow would be a helluva day.

—

When Katsuki had initially stormed out of the dorm, there were a lot of things racing through his head. 

For one, he belittled every hero that had been in the scene. Well, not every hero. There was actually a lot of them that he greatly respected for their efforts in either the battle or rescue efforts. But, for every hero that was useless you could count another tally to Katsuki’s hate list.

Another thing was the point of it all. The shitty point the villain was clearly setting out to make by orchestrating the attack. It pissed him off to no end. He agreed with what the villain said, and he would admit that he felt like a dick for it, but what the villain did was unforgivable. 

It was pissing him off just considering it. Everything was just a shitshow nowadays. The world was falling apart with new villains popping up like their going out of style and nobody could do a damn thing about it.

Katsuki was heading straight for the gamma gym, aggressively stomping his way there with a snarl on his face, hands in his pockets and a mean glare that would send shivers down any normal person’s spine. He stopped, though, when he heard footsteps coming from close behind him and catching up fast.

Katsuki stopped his march, slightly turning his head back to glance at whoever had the nerve to follow him. Honestly, the revelation on who it was didn’t really surprise him. “What do you want, Shitty Hair?”

“Bakugo,” he said, slightly out of breath. Katsuki had made it pretty far before Shitty Hair decided to go after him. “You’re going to train?”

Katsuki scoffed, burying his hands deeper into his pockets, “Im’a that obvious?” He turned his head away, beginning to walk to his destination again. “Don’t bother me.”

The red haired, sharp toothed boy looked at Katsuki nervously. He was considering asking something, but wasn’t sure how the explosive blonde would end up reacting. He could end up getting offended or something and he really didn’t want that. Eventually, he caved and asked, “Can I train with you?”

Katsuki stopped walking again, this time turning back to fully look at him. Katsuki gave him a questioning look, expecting his reasoning.

Kirishima sighed, his fist clenched and teeth starting to grit. “You saw the broadcast. We all did.” He looked at Katsuki, his eyes metaphorically hard and unwavering. He held a sort of determined glare that even Katsuki had to admit was admirable. “If I’m going to be a hero that’s going to protect people, I need to get stronger. I think you’re the right person to help me with that.”

Katsuki only looked at him, his expression unreadable as he examined the other. Katsuki didn’t exactly know if they were friends or not; it was never really something he wanted. But, what he did know was that there was a lot more taking place behind the scenes that Kirishima didn’t want to say. 

Katsuki sighed, turning back around and motioning for the redhead to follow. “C’mon, Shitty Hair. Let’s go.” 

The spiky blonde did his best to ignore the excited cries of the other, but in the end he couldn’t. A small smile ended up coming to his face, which he tried his best to shake off. It didn’t work.

As they silently walked to the gym, Katsuki couldn’t help but think to himself. The company of others was nice, especially when he wasn’t being an asshole. Now, he didn’t mean the company he had during… that time, but the company he had now.

There were really only two people that actively hung around him: Shitty Hair and Round- Uraraka. Uraraka actually held his respect. Her attitude was something he actually admired: someone that didn’t take shit from anyone and would stick up for someone she thought was hurting, unwilling to follow the masses’ influence. It was something he wished he would’ve done. Maybe that was why he respected her so much.

Shitty Hair was a little different. Katsuki wondered why he always decided to stick by him. He pondered on similar thoughts with Uraraka too, but from what he could figure she thought he needed a friend and that was why she was around. But, for the redhead, he didn’t really know. Katsuki remembered that he always muttered stuff about his manliness, but there had to be more it than that.

Eventually, after reaching the school and showing their Student IDs to a machine, they were able to make it to the gym. Katsuki took off his overshirt, leaving him in just a tank top, and began to move to one end of the gym. Kirishima looked at him, a tad confused.

When Katsuki had reached the spot that he wanted to be in, he looked at Kirishima expectantly, “Well, what are you doing, Shitty Hair?” Kirishima jolted a bitch from the sudden urgency and harshness of his words. “You said you wanted to train, so let’s fucking go!”

Kirishima looked at the blonde, who in turn only glared at him. The redhead eventually chuckled, “Getting right to it, I guess.” He quickly jogged over to the other end of the gym, staring down Katsuki with a fierce and ready look.

After a few moments of silence, with Katsuki not saying or doing anything, Kirishima tilted his head and spoke, “How do we exactly start-”

He was evidently interrupted by the sound of fierce explosions being set off across the gym. Kirishima tensed and instinctively hardened himself. Katsuki was coming his was and fast.

The explosive blonde increased his altitude a bit, allowing him to fly up in the air. After a letting off a few shots that propelled him upward, he corrected his aim to where he would land on Kirishima, readying his hands to explode when they touched him.

Kirishima watched him attentively, so right before Katsuki was in reaching distance of him he performed a duck and roll in the forward direction. He timed it right to where he would exit his roll when Katsuki hit the ground. When all went according to plan and Katsuki got the ground, letting off an explosion that filled the area in smoke, Kirishima quickly stood and readied his hardened fist to strike the explosive blonde in the face.

Katsuki was actually surprised by the sudden move, barely moving his head out of the way of the punch. Kirishima has ended up grazing his cheek, his hardened skin cutting it and spilling a small amount of blood. Katsuki was quick to move again before Kirishima could land his next attack, going on the defensive. 

Kirishima was letting loose a variety of different basic attacks, strictly using his hardened fists to try and punch Katsuki. Katsuki doubted any normal physical attack would work on Kirishima, just due to his hardened state being so hard to even move not to mention how durable it is.

However when Katsuki saw an opening he let loose a powerful explosion into the redhead’s side. The redhead only smirked, after being stunned for only a second, “That won't work on me, explosion boy!” 

Katsuki let out a ‘tch’ as he went back to repeatedly dodging his attacks. It was getting annoying and he could feel himself starting to lose balance after doing it so many times. The training Kirishima had done throughout being a U.A. student ultimately increased the strength and durability of his hardened form. 

Katsuki knew he couldn’t just keep dodging forever, and he also knew that Kirishima may not exactly run out of steam just yet. He needed to wear him down in a more aggressive way.

Thinking fast, Katsuki dodged a punch that was meant for his face and aimed both of his toward Kirishima’s gut. The spiky blonde immediately fired fairly large explosions into Kirishima’s chest, actually sending the redhead back a bit, but not so much doing a lot of damage. Katsuki, however, was sent a lot further back.

It was a part of his plan. He needed to create some distance, first, then he could attack more freely. Katsuki landed a good distance away, getting Kirishima’s attention and triggering him to charge.

Katsuki had other plans, though, quickly stretching out one of his hands and forming a circle with his other. He put the circle in front of the palm of the outstretched hand, firing an explosion through the circle. The explosion created a concentrated blast beam that flew directly at Kirishima, who was initially surprised to see the attack and could only block it.

Katsuki smirked, seeing the attack hit its mark and the smoke surrounding the redhead. It was his AP Shot, a fairly powerful attack that worked perfectly in situations like this. After a moment, the smirk faded upon seeing the redhead still standing and beginning to charge again.

Katsuki glared forward, his hands still in their previous position. He would have to keep up the attacks then. He then began using a rapid-fire version of that attack, AP Shot: Auto-Cannon. The explosion power is a little reduced, but that shouldn’t matter due to the sheer amount of shots being fired.

Upon the onslaught of explosions heading his way, Kirishima assumes a defensive pose. He put his two arms up in a cross to help block his face. Some of the shots went off their mark, but that was fine, as most of them hit their target and made Kirishima get pushed back.

Katsuki, after around thirty full seconds on nonstop firing, felt like it was enough and decided it was time to apply a finishing move. He stopped firing the explosive projectiles, and upon doing so immediately took the chance to blast himself back into the air.

Kirishima noticed this, quickly trying to recover from the attack, and once again prepared himself to dodge an incoming attack. Katsuki then performed the same attack he had done when the match started, adjusting himself in the air and beginning to launch himself forward with his hands ready to strike.

Kirishima applies his same strategy to dodge the attack, going into a duck and rolling a small hit forward. Katsuki knew he would do this though, and prepared for it. When Kirishima went into his duck and began to roll, Katsuki prematurely fired off two powerful explosions that canceled out his forward momentum. He landed swiftly on the ground, quickly pivoting himself and preparing his right palm to hit Kirishima as soon as he came out of his roll.

Needless to say that when Kirishima came out of the roll, his face was met with a palm full of a powerful explosion. Katsuki let it rip, blasting Kirishima straight in the face and making the redhead fly back a bit. However, he lost his balance when trying to steady himself and began to fall on his back.

Katsuki took this as a prime opportunity, rushing forward with a few explosions and pushing the redhead to the ground. A palm rested on Kirishima’s face as Katsuki used his knee and foot to pin one of his arms, while his free hand pinned the other.

After a few moments of pointless struggle, Kirishima relented and hit the ground twice to show he surrendered. Katsuki took the hint and got off of him, standing up straight as Kirishima sat up on the floor. The redhead let out a light chuckle, looking at Katsuki with a slightly nervous expression, “So, how’d I do?”

Katsuki glared down at him for a few moments, carefully considering his next words. After a moment, he sighed and reached a hand out to the other, “You need to fucking learn how to fight properly.” Kirishima looked surprised at both the words and the gesture. He gladly took the hand with Katsuki helping him stand by roughly yanking him upward. Katsuki continued, “You could’ve had me in the first half. If you knew how to properly use fighting techniques, I’d be out.”

Kirishima let out more of a genuine laugh, this time. Katsuki guesses that he was just embarrassed by his performance, before. Kirishima rubbed the back of his neck, “Yeah, I guess I should really get some lessons. I’ve been considering it for a while, but I wasn’t really sure how to go about it.”

“Hmph,” Katsuki puffed, walking a bit away. He crossed his arms, thinking for another moment. “If you’re serious about this training, then I can help teach you. Just plain brawling won’t help you in the long run.”

Without even having to turn around, he knew that Kirishima was looking at him with an expression mixed with shock, amazement and wonder. “So manly…” he ended up muttering, just loud enough for Katsuki to hear, which made the explosive blonde softly scoff. “Thank you, Bakugo! I won’t let you down!”

Katsuki smirked, proud that not only about his friend’s determination to get stronger, but the fact that he had a new training partner. Katsuki’s eyes widened. Did he just consider Shitty Hair his friend? He rapidly shook his head; he had other stuff to focus on.

Katsuki quickly pivoted himself to face the redhead, a sadistic smile on his face. Kirishima would be lying if he said that the look didn’t both excite him and make him terrified for his life. “Alright then, Shitty Hair, let’s-”

“Erm, excuse me?” A voice spoke from the gym’s entrance, getting the two’s attention. The two boys looked to the entrance to see a fairly nervous brunette twiddling with her fingers, “Uhm, I was wondering if you… uh…” 

It was Uraraka. She was clearly trying to ask something, but was having trouble getting it out. Katsuki frustratingly sighed. Sometimes he wished people would be more open, like he was. Luckily, he knew how to trigger her enough to respond normally, “C’mon, Round Face, say what you need to say. I don’t have all day.”

She suddenly snapped out of her incoherent babbling to glare at Katsuki and accusingly point at him. “My name is Uraraka. Got that? It’s Ura-ra-ka. Get it in your head.”

Katsuki smirked. He didn’t know exactly why she got that way over a simple nickname, but in situations like these he found it both useful and hilarious. “Speak then, like I said I don’t have all day.”

She then snapped out of her angry pouting and began to get nervous again. Katsuki nearly groaned, about to comment something again but stopped when she opened her mouth to actually speak. “I was, uh… actually wonder if you’d train me too?” 

She started to drift her voice into a more quieter tone, but he still heard all of what she said. Hell, he was just barely able to hear her say that she overheard them training and talking. He looked at her, surprised that she had just asked him to train her. He already knew why, so he wasn’t exactly going to ask.

In the end, his sadistic smirk returned. She noticed and shivered in her place, “Join Shitty Hair over there.”

She tilted her head at him, admittedly a little confused. Katsuki didn’t know why she was confused. All he did was tell her to go stand next to Kirishima. Did he look like the kind of guy to blow someone up if they asked to train with him? Actually, yeah that was probably it. “Wait, you’re just gonna let me? You don’t want to know why-”

“GET THE FUCK OVER THERE, ROUND FACE!” He boomed, loud explosions also coming off of his palms. She quickly scurried her way over to Kirishima, who was only softly chuckling at the banter.

Once Uraraka found her place next to Kirishima, Katsuki began to explain what was going to happen. “Alright, you two,” he pointed to them, getting their attention, “versus me,” he pointed his thumb at himself. “This is so I can judge your teamwork and how well you work together.”

They deadpanned at him. Katsuki was confused. Why were they deadpanning at- oh, never mind he knew. It made him mad, but he knew. Katsuki was never one to work too well with a team.

What he said wasn’t a lie, though. It was all a practical test to see what he needed to focus on with them. In certain circumstances, team training could be a lot more beneficial for learning if the people involved were better with the style. Katsuki fully intended to take this training incredibly seriously, for both himself and them.

The two in front of him assumed combative positions when Katsuki let off small pops from his palms. They were nervous: good. Katsuki’s sadistic smirk was proudly displayed on his face as he spoke, “Get ready, because this training will be hell for you!”

At that moment, when Katsuki rushed forward with his explosions from across the gym, the two had no idea how serious he was actually being with that statement.

—

The next day came around very, very slowly for Izuku. When he got home after everything, he let out a loud and obnoxious groan that made Izumi practically jump from being startled. The two still slept in the same bed, after all, since, for one, she wasn’t exactly completely comfortable to sleep on her own yet, and two she didn’t even have a room for her to sleep in.

She had asked him how things went, but he was just too tired to respond to her questions and just opted to go to bed. He was barely even able to message Yui back after she had called him earlier. Izumi understood and quietly left him be as he drifted off to sleep. The whole ordeal took literally the whole day, so it was nighttime then. Izumu would just get in the bed when she was ready to sleep, no problem there.

He groggily woke up the next morning feeling a lot better than he had been the night before. He did his best not to wake Izumi when he got out of bed and quickly moved to take care of what he needed to do for the morning.

As he got ready, he could help but consider the previous day’s events. The day itself had been incredibly… wild. Even he couldn’t entirely believe that it even happened, and he was the one that orchestrated the thing.

He sighed, first thinking about what Izumi had told him about Kota. The kid was someone that did share their ideology but ultimately lacked the resolve necessary to act on it. Upon further pondering, Izuku thought I’d be best keeping him at arm’s length as an associate. He would definitely be useful for later events, but for now he wasn’t. 

Dabi’s support equipment was pretty much ready, too. All that needed to really be done was have them properly field tested, but Izuku knew that the designs were good. He supposed he could call him over to the warehouse to test them out.

So, he sent an incredibly cryptic text to him detailing where the warehouse location was. Dabi was smart, he’d figure it out, Izuku mused. Imagine Izuku’s surprise when only twenty or so minutes after he sent the message, Dabi messaged him back saying he’d be there in an hour. 

Well it was no big deal, really. It wasn’t like he really needed to rush. An hour was plenty of time, and he already finished getting ready for the most part. His mother had just finished making breakfast, so she was currently setting the table up to eat. He had to wake up Izumi, who really didn’t want to wake up, to eat.

Eventually, the family of three sat down at the table and ate their breakfast. It was spent mostly in silence, but there were a few light conversations here and there. Inko had told Izuku that the project he had asked her to work on was almost done and it would only be a matter of days now, which made him glad. He would have to contact someone later in the day to make preparations for something, if that was the case.

Izuku had told his mother and sister that he would be heading to the warehouse after eating, even though the day was meant to be a break day. Izumi looked at him suspiciously, somehow knowing he was hiding something. He just told them he wouldn’t be there for too long and he’d be back, at least, before midday. Just a quick checkup on something, he’d said. They seemed to accept that answer, so it wasn’t brought up again. The rest of breakfast went by without trouble with the family of three enjoying their meal.

Izuku did as he said he would and left the apartment to go to his warehouse after eating. Izumi gave him a weird look as he left, but Izuku just brushed it off as mere curiosity and kept going on his way. 

It didn’t take him too long to get there and make sure everything was properly set up before going back outside to wait for his guest. He had only been really waiting for a few minutes when he saw the same hood from the day at the food court begin to approach him.

Izuku waited for him to get a little closer before he greeted him, “You’re here, finally. You were… ah, two minutes late.”

He barely saw him till his eyes from under the hood, “Whatever, you said you wanted to talk about stuff?”

Izuku nodded, motioning him to come along, “Follow me.”

Dabi followed him through the doors of his warehouse, which led to an extraneous large room that looked pretty plain. It looked like a normal warehouse, for the most part, consisting of a very open workspace. What confused Dabi though, was the extreme lack of anything in the room.

He let down his hood and took it off as he followed Izuku to a nearby wall. The greenette offered to carry his hoodie, which Dabi didn’t want to refuse, so he handed it to the boy who tied it around his waist. He didn’t ask any questions when Izuku started pushing on random slots of the wall, nor did he really pay attention to it until he heard a fairly loud ding. More curiously, he looked ahead at the wall which was now opening up to reveal an elevator.

Izuku looked back at him as he stepped into the fairly large elevator, and chuckled, “Yeah, I know, I was surprised too when I first found this.”

Dabi quickly realized that he must’ve been wearing some weird expression on his face and quickly shook it away, following his boss into the elevator. Izuku’s right hand found itself pressing a button, in which the elevator doors closed and began descending, some music even starting to okay in the background. When Dabi looked over to the buttons, he was thoroughly shocked at the amount of them. “What the hell is this place?”

Izuku laughed this time, “That was basically my reaction when I found this.” He simply said, before catching his breath. He began to explain, “My mom first told me about this place over a year ago. It used to belong to my father, apparently..” He then muttered something about the damn bastard not sending a paycheck to his mom for a few months now. “It was practically abandoned when I moved my stuff in here, but this place has a lot to it. I’ve explored most of the place and claimed a lot of the individual rooms for a variety of things. You have the main rooms, which is what the elevator entrance is always going to be connected to. There is also a pretty large labyrinth of pathways down there; it’s like a maze. It’s not a problem for me, since I’ve basically memorized the entirety of it, but you could get lost if you’re not careful. Connected to those pathways are even more branching rooms, too. So, this place has quite the underground system. There’s also a separate staircase on the other side of the elevator, just in case, I guess.”

Dabi glanced down at his boss with a bewildered expression. He just couldn’t believe that this place even existed, legally. How the hell did the bills for this place get paid? Oh, wait, from what he’s heard he’s rich. Dabi remembered hearing from Toga and Twice about how much of a maze the Yakuza base was, so either this place was like that or even more so. His curiously piqued, he couldn’t help but ask, “So, you got any of the rooms sectioned for specific stuff?”

Izuku looked at him, “Well, Sublevel One is usually where I tinker and work on stuff. A lot of my materials are on that level, along with a majority of other things. Sublevel Two is more of a storage space for a lot of stuff. I have a lot of things there ranging from really important and practically useful to next to junk. A lot of finished projects are also stored there, too, if I need them to be. Sublevel Three is where we’re going; it’s strictly a field testing site. I also have random rooms, sectioned off in the labyrinth, with important stuff in them. The randomness of it can be useful in the event the place gets raided or scouted somehow. Also, did I mention there’s traps? My father must’ve been a paranoid type of person because there’s a lot of them in random pathways. There’s also a section on Sublevel Three that‘s got prison cell-like rooms, so...”

Traps? Prison cells? Dabi was beginning to think this place was something much more than just a warehouse. It was like it used to be a full on battle station or something. Just who exactly was his father? 

Just then, the elevator dinged again and the doors opened to reveal another really large room. The roof was really high up and the walls were incredibly spaced out. There was a surprising lack of an echo, too. This particular room had a space sectioned off by glass, most likely the testing area Izuku spoke about. There were also at least four to six different hallways attached to this one room, Dabi also noticed.

Another realization came to him, “That elevator trip took a while.” 

Izuku looked at him once they reached the glass, a presumably blast proof door being the only entrance into the sectioned room. It was really white in there, too, with the walls being exceptionally bright. Izuku responded, “Yeah, the place is huge. That’s why a lot of branching rooms and stuff are empty. I don’t need all of the space. Though, like I said before, if the place is ever raided it’s really useful.” He turned toward the door, opening it up and going inside of the room. Dabi followed him in as he spoke again, “Sublevel four is exceptionally smaller than this, for some reason. Sublevel five is roughly the same way. I have those two sectioned off for their own purposes. Sublevel Four houses a machine of mine that automatically produces something for me and sends it down to Sublevel Five.” He then hummed thoughtfully, “I’ve actually been curious about discovering a Sublevel Six, or at least a hidden room, somewhere. I’ve found old clues lying around but have never actually found out how to get there.”

The two reached a table, which was next to a lot of other tables, in the room. It was really close to the glass and had some equipment on it, presumably his new support gear as he previously mentioned.

Izuku reached for two things on the table with both of his hands. Izuku turned to him after picking them up, holding them out for him to grab. “Here, put these on.”

Dabi curiously inspected the devices. They looked like gauntlets, of sorts, with a thin metal-looking glove at the end with thicker pieces of metal leading down to his forearm. The color matched his scars, as well. 

Dabi put them on easily enough, able to slide his hand through it until his hand reached the glove. Surprisingly the glove was extremely flexible, with him able to pretty freely move his fingers around. The part that wrapped around his scars on his forearm was also quite snug yet loose, which Dabi would admit was fairly comfortable. The inside layer was also made out of some kind of fabric, though Dabi didn’t know what.

Izuku began to explain, “These will help you with a few things, most notably your fire control. You can still produce your fire as well as you could without these, too, and they’re extremely heat resistant so they won’t be of any risk.” Dabi looked at him like he didn’t believe it, until he generated a flame in his left hand. He felt absolutely none of the heat that usually radiated off the fire. It was almost surreal. Izuku continued, “There is also another mechanic that I’m quite excited to see in action. Tell me, do you have to focus and alter your flame projection so prevent excess spread?”

Dani nodded, looking at his boss with a blank expression. He did, in fact, have to actively focus on how much the flame spread when he released it. Sometimes it would hinder him in a fight, since he actively needed to have his mind set on that and would logically make him a little less focused on his surroundings.

“Well, now you don’t have to worry about it. Here-” Izuku attached something to the back of Dabi’s head, suddenly. It was pretty small and relatively unnoticeable, actually hiding behind his hair so it couldn't be seen. “It’s a chip that reads brain waves. Only works with small projects like this, though, so I can’t use it for bigger stuff. Anyway, try thinking of how much you want to alter the spread using a funnel, almost.”

Dabi was confused by the explanation, but did his best to do it anyway. He thought about his spread and how much he wanted to alter it, thinking of firing a thin beam-like torrent of fire using a small funnel. The thicker piece of metal around his forearm began to unlatch from the foundation and fold over around his hand, forming the tight funnel shape Dabi desired. It went further than his hand could reach, as well; likely because in order to properly funnel the flames it needed to be out further.

He looked at the device with a surprised expression, looking at Izuku for an explanation, “It’s so you don’t have to actively focus on altering the spread. Now you can use this to automatically adjust it using that funnel, and as a bonus you still get the heat protection so you don’t have to worry about burning yourself and can use attacks for longer periods of time. Before you ask, the funnel can be altered mid attack if you want, but it takes a second or two to fully change.”

Dabi looked back at the gauntlet-type device that was currently around his hand and forearm. It was amazing; something he’d been hoping to get to help him since a young age. As another test, he expanded the funnel to its maximum. It immediately extended outward, but since it didn’t have enough metal to complete the full funnel at first some extra panels were separated from the preexisting ones, making the funnel a little thinner.

Izuku told him that, if he wanted, he could release as much fire as he wanted, as long as it was pointed at the wall ahead of them. Dabi didn’t need to be told twice, keeping the funnel at its maximum spread and releasing a large torrent of blue fire at the far wall. He didn’t focus on how much he would limit it’s spread at all, just releasing the fire. The fire completely expanded out to the funnel’s size, and the spread was humongous. 

After a full minute, in which Dabi would have usually ceased his attack due to his sensitivity to heat, he stopped. The fire didn’t burn his skin like it usually did. Yeah, sure, it heated up the room and would make them sweat that way, but the usual sensitivity he had with the flames on his skin was no longer present. He supposed he had the boss’ mysterious heat resistant materials to thank for that.

He formed the funnel into a much smaller form, the thinner metal rewatching itself, becoming thicker, and folding in to form a small circle. It only took a second or so for the funnel to change, as well, just like the last time. He fired again, this time with a straighter and more beam-like torrent of flame. He stopped after about a few seconds that time, looking at his hand with an amazed look. It was like a dream. 

Izuku noticed Dabi’s amazed expression and went over to the table again, getting Dabi’s attention. He hadn’t been paying too much attention to it before, but there were other things on the table. One that got the most of his interest was an outfit that looked very similar to his current villain uniform. Izuku pat it a few times on the table, “I take it you’re interested in this?” When Dabi gave him a small nod, he smirked, “Well, why don’t you try it on? It’s not made of metal, but the material used to make it is extremely heat resistant. It’s modeled and based off of your already existing outfit, as well, so there shouldn’t really be any problem.”

Try it on Dabi did. He had to take the gauntlets off first, though. For the most part, it was a lot like his current outfit, but it also had its fair few changes. For one, the undershirt he used to wear was replaced with a more full-body suit that covered his entire body, aside from his head, with a dark-purple, blackish fabric. It wasn’t uncomfortable; snug, but not uncomfortable. Additionally, over top of that, he also had a large dark blue coat, similar to the one he usually wore, except this one was a lot cleaner, neater, not ripped and overall more professional-looking. He also wore large, dark colored pants that had the ends of the pant legs tucked into his boots. He assumed the material they were made of was similar to the full-body suit’s material, in which it wouldn’t be too vulnerable to fire.

Speaking of the boots he wore, they were incredibly made… weirdly. The material clearly wasn’t the usual material boots were made of. They also felt snug, but also incredibly thin around his feet. He ended up asking his boss about them.

“The case with the boots is similar to the case for the gauntlets,” Izuku told him. “The boots, like the gloves, are meant for you to freely produce flames without you having to hinder yourself. I can assume that you’re able to generate flames from places other than just your hands, right?” Dabi nodded. “Then why don’t you try emitting a flame from your feet? A simple outward kick would suffice. Limit yourself how you’d like, this is only a test.”

Dabi looked from Izuku to the open area ahead of him. What he was about to do was something he couldn’t pull off for ages due to how impractical it was. He smiled; may as well go big or go home, right? 

In one swift motion he lifted his right leg and thrust it forward, creating a large burst of blue flame. “Holy shit…” he muttered, amazed at the face he felt no backlash of heat or that the clothes he wore didn’t start to instantly burn away.

Izuku chuckled, somewhat amused at Dabi’s continuous amazement, “I apologize for not being about to create a proper funnel for your boots like I did the gauntlets. There were just some… complications with implementing them.”

“It’s fine,” Dabi quickly responded, a satisfied smirk on his face. He turned to the table, picking up the gauntlets and putting them back on. He had or should set them on the table to put on the new outfit, and with the gauntlets on now it felt like everything came together. “I’ve never felt this good in ages.” He turned to Izuku, a questioning look on his face, “You mind if I practice a bit?”

Izuku raised an eyebrow, but smirked as well, “By all means, go for it. Just go further into the room.”

Dabi nodded, walking himself further into the room until he was a reasonable distance away. After a deep breath of preparation, he started performing semi-practiced moves. He started off by launching a burst of flame from his left hand, then quickly followed by him spinning to the left and raising his foot to let out a horizontal wave of fire, followed by even more moves. Izuku could subtly notice the funnel on Dabi’s new gauntlets quickly moving in and out at times. 

Izuku himself was amazed as Dabi practiced. Just by analyzing his movements, Izuku knew that Dabi didn’t have much experience with the moves he practiced. The movements were a bit slow at times, perhaps because of the funnel’s full one to two second change time. He could possibly change that, but wasn’t sure. In the end, though, Izuku felt pride in the fact he made successful gear for someone else. He considered this a good first trial run before he finished Izumi’s suit.

After a few more minutes of practice, Dabi seemed out of breath. It was highly likely to Izuku that Dabi didn’t have the best stamina. He came back over, somewhat panting but still had that smile on his face. “Works like a dream, boss.”

“I’m glad. Feel free to take everything with you, too.” Izuku told him, which surprised the scarred man a bit. “It’ll do you no good holed up down here. Put the stuff to good use, yeah?”

Dabi only nodded, unable to say anything in response. He had already expressed his thanks and didn’t really know what much else to say.

“Also, I have a few suggestions for possible new uses for your Quirk. Would you like to hear them?” Izuku suddenly asked, getting Dabi’s full attention. Dabi nodded, attentively listening. “Well, for one, have you ever considered using your fire to propel yourself in the air, or at the very least hover so you don’t fall? I’ve seen Endeavor do it a few times, so I was curious as to whether it would be possible for you to accomplish as well.”

Despite the name of the bastard hero making him angry, he put serious thought into the suggestion. It actually hadn’t occurred to him to try that before. It was actually a sort of appealing idea, and a useful one at that.

Without saying anything in response, Dabi walked back to the spot in the room where he had previously been practicing. He took a deep breath and reigned his focus, starting to emit a small flame from under his feet. After he first started the small flame, he began to slowly work him way up to higher levels until it was eventually powerful enough to start lifting him from the ground.

The amount of power he was putting into the flames under his boot was insane. Though, Dabi did know that if he learned and practiced this more he could lessen the amount of flame he was letting out.

He started to go higher and higher into the air, but the further he ascended the less balance he had. He started to stumble in the air, somewhat panicking and blasting flames from his hands to try and keep himself balanced. Needless to say the thrashing in the air didn’t do him much good and ultimately led to him falling from the air and landing flat on his back, sliding on the ground a bit due to the acceleration the flames had given him before he could put them out.

He heard the faintest laughter coming from across the room and he glared at the source. He quickly got up, brushed himself off and went back over to his boss. He was a tiny bit grumpy, now.

His boss still laughed a bit, but it devolved into small chuckles by now, “Sorry for laughing, it just gets me sometimes.” Dabi gave him a half-assed glare. In reality he didn’t really care, but he had an image to keep so he had to look intimidating. “But, really, if you practiced that more you could make good use of that skill. There are other things I was thinking could be useful, like covering the majority of your body in fire as a defensive and offensive move, but I’m not entirely sure about them. We’d have to come back here and practice some other time.”

Dabi only nodded, acknowledging that what his boss said was right. Dabi knew that if he got the hang of that it would help him a lot, so he made it one of his goals to attain in the near future. He would be sure to also consider the possibilities of a lot of other possible uses for his Quirk.

“Oh, I put them here so I wouldn’t forget.” The greenette turned around, quickly went over to the table and picked up a few small objects. He then went back over to Dabi and held them out for him to grab. Dabi confusingly raised a brow. There were two syringes and two bowls of liquid in his hands. “Their sedatives, preferably to be used on Nighteye. The syringes have nothing in them yet, so you’ll have to fill them. About half of the vial of liquid should be enough to knock him out, but if you inject him with more than that it won’t kill or injure him. It may actually knock him out for longer, actually.”

“Ah,” Dabi breathed out, taking the items and putting them into his fairly deep hoodie pockets. He would have to use them sparingly and make good use of them.

Izuku began to lead Dabu back toward the door, with Dabi never taking off his new things. As they walked back toward the elevator Dabi spoke, “So, how’d everything go yesterday after you ‘saved the day?’”

Even though Dabi was behind him, Izuku knew he had a cheeky smirk on his face to go along with the amusement in his tone of voice. Izuku only groaned, “It was terrible. I hate the media and all of the stupid stuff they make you go through at the police station. How can heroes take that, much less want all of that?”

Dabi shrugged as the two stepped into the elevator. Izuku pushed a button to go up to the ground level with the elevator doors closing shortly after. Dabi took the time to respond, “I don’t get it either. But the ones that want the limelight all of the time just make them stand out as people that don’t deserve to be heroes.”

Izuku nodded. He turned his head to look at Dabi a little better before speaking again, “I noticed you improvised a little off of the script yesterday. Any particular reason why?”

Dabi shrugged, “The sheets you gave me were incredibly detailed and sometimes hard to follow. I almost messed up once or twice, and I thought, instead of making a fool of your name and reputation, I should improvise.”

Izuku chuckled, “Fair enough. I noticed that you used yourself to martyr Endeavor’s reputation. I didn’t think you’d go that far.”

“I do what I have to do. It’s not like anyone’s any wiser now than they were before,” Dabi said no chalantly, glancing over at Izuku. “There’s also a few things I want to ask: like why you know so much about me but I know next to nothing about you.”

Izuku sighed, finally looking at him fully, “You’re right. I should try to open my inner trust circle a little more, especially with teammates.” Izuku did his best to put on his friendliest smile, holding out his hand in a gesture of a handshake, “I’m Midoriya Izuku. The form you see of me now is my real form. Nice to meet you.”

Dabi looked at him with an expression mixed with both surprise and suspicion as Izuku held his hand out. Izuku felt like Dabi was analyzing him, like he was making sure what he was seeing wasn’t some sort of trick or illusion. After a few moments, Dabi reciprocated the gesture, shaking his hand and shifting his eyes in another direction in a show of awkwardness, “Nice to meet you, I guess. You know about me already, so there’s no need for me to introduce myself fully to you.”

After a few seconds of handshaking, the two split off. “Understandable,” Izuku commented. “We’re probably going to end up seeing one another more often, so we’ll learn more about one another in time.”

Dabi looked at him weirdly for another few seconds before shrugging, “Alright.”

While the elevator still hadn’t reached its destination, Izuku looked at him curiously, “Was there something else you wanted to ask? You said ‘questions’ earlier, as in plural.”

Dabi nodded, “Yeah. I was curious, since I noticed it, but you seemed a little upset about the casualties. Was something wrong?”

Izuku looked at him and frantically waved his hands in front of him, in an extraneous dramatic show to tell him that it was a misunderstanding. “No no no, it wasn’t! Well, maybe?” Izuku sighed at his own confusion, looking away a bit while Dabi raised an eyebrow. “I’m not entirely used to the fact we had to sacrifice innocents for the cause. It’s not nearly as bad as I thought I’d be, initially.” He looked back at Dabi, a look of resolve clear on his face. “When i first started this whole thing I told myself I would get this done by any means necessary. I still abide by that.”

Dabi only stared at him, his judging gaze piercing through Izuku like Edgeshot using his Quirk. After what felt like an eternity to Izuku, Dabi’s gaze softened as he shrugged, looking forward toward the elevator doors, “Sometimes you only need to use the means at hand. Don’t go rushing into something you’re too unprepared to do.”

Izuku looked at him for a moment, truly considering those words as the elevator finally dinged. He was right, in a sense. If Izuku wasn’t ready to go ‘any means necessary,’ then he shouldn’t rush himself into doing it. Izuku knew that Dabi knew the possibilities as for what it could do to your personality if you went too far too quickly, or at all. But, Izuku was determined to see this through. For now, he’d keep doing what he needed to do by any means necessary. He was in too deep not to slow down now anyway.

The doors of the elevator opened and the two quickly walked out. Before he ended up forgetting, Izuku took Dabi’s hoodie off of his waste and tossed at the scarred man. “Think fast.” 

Dabi did not think fast. 

Instead of catching the hoodie, it ended up laying over his face like a blanket. Izuku genuinely laughed, somewhat amused. Dabi only groaned as he yanked the thing off of his face and began putting it back on, “You should work on your reaction time. By the way, that this smells. Do you even shower?”

Dabi glared at him for a second, but ended up developing his own smirk, “Smells better than this room. Do you ever clean this place?”

Izuku waved a dismissive hand, “Not necessary. Plus, I’m too busy to preoccupy myself with that stuff.”

Dabi rolled his eyes, his grin never leaving. He was clearly enjoying the banter. “Whatever. By the way, about-”

“Izu-nii! Who is this!” A voice shouted from the doorway, causing both male’s heads to snap in that direction.

Dabi immediately went on the defensive, aiming his right palm, which was now fitted with his new gauntlet, at the doorway. He had the funnel in its smallest diameter, intending to shoot a small beam of blue fire to minimize damage. His hand glowed a familiar bright blue flame.

“Dabi, wait.” Izuku ordered, looking at Dabi expectantly. He held his arm out in a way that said ‘stop.’

Dabi did as he was told, extinguishing the flames and putting his arm down. That didn’t stop him from glaring at the now cowering girl at the doorway. “Who is this?” He asked quite coldly.

Izuku sighed, almost disappointingly. “This, Dabi, is my sister, Izumi.” After he gave a small gesture with his hands to Dabi, he looked at Izumi and gave a similar gesture in Dabi’s direction. “Izumi, this is Dabi. He’s a teammate.”

“D-Dabi?” She moved her hands away from her face, which had been moved there during her cowering fit when Dabi threatened to cremate her.

Dabi let out a ‘hmph,’ putting his hands into the pockets of his hoodie and looking at Izuku with a half-assed glare. “Didn’t we just have a conversation about you telling me shit? And, teammate?” He looked at Izumi with an analytical gaze, “Aren’t you a little young for this?”

Izuku sighed again. Izumi couldn’t help but slightly shudder under Dabi’s intimidating gaze, unable to respond to Dabi’s comment about her age. Honestly, her reaction was a lot tamer than he’d thought it would be.

He supposed that this was his fault. He should have absolutely stressed that what he was doing was specifically something he’d do alone. He should’ve more carefully considered her skeptical glances at him earlier. He was an idiot. Now, the poor girl was almost incinerated.

Izuku decided to respond to Dabi’s earlier question, “Yeah, sorry. I was going to introduce you eventually, when I felt you both were ready for it.”

Dabi glanced at him, then to Izumi. He could clearly see that she was… unstable, for lack of a better term. He knew something was up with that, but decided not to push the issue, especially with said girl in the room. He had his fair share of traumatic experiences in his life, too.

Dabi didn’t respond to Izuku, instead going up to the girl and holding out his hand. This surprised the siblings, who had clearly not been expecting such a gesture from him. “Sorry if I startled you. I get jumpy sometimes. I look forward to working with you.”

Dabi handled that pretty professionally. But, Izuku knew it was more than just professionalism. Izuku knew what Dabi had been through in his past; knew his experiences. Perhaps it was more of him having an understanding of her, through analyzing the connect clues.

Izumi warily looked at the outstretched hand for a few seconds before tremblingly shaking it. There was only one shake before Dabi let go, heading toward the door, intending to leave. 

But, before he fully left, he stopped walking and started to speak, “About Nighteye. When I take care of him, where do you want him?”

Izuku didn’t take too long to respond, “It depends on what you do, but if you want to capture him I prepared a holding cell down in the prison-like place I was talking about before. We can put him in there.”

Dabi only gave a hum of acknowledgement before he walked out the door and away from the warehouse. Izuku and Izumi sort of blankly stared at the door for a full minute before Izumi turned to look at her brother. “That’s our teammate?”

Izuku sighed, “Yes, that’s a teammate. Sorry about that, I was trying to wait for you to… uh, well, recover a bit more before I had you two meet.”

Izumi just looked at him for a moment before a small smile made its way onto her face, “It’s okay. I am a little upset you kept it from me, but I know you were just looking out for me. This is my fault, anyway.” She looked back at the doors, pondering something. “Did you notice his reaction, though? For a villain of his caliber it took me… off guard.”

Izuku also looked back toward the doors, “I did. He’s not exactly the kind of villain you think he is. He’s been through a lot in his life, and I think some of him gets what you’ve been through.”

She looked at him, her eyes unsure and questioning. “You told him about what happened to me?” Her voice wavered at the memory, which nearly made Izuku flinch.

He went over to her, putting an arm around her to help ease her. It worked, as she snuggled into him comfortably, “No, I didn’t. But, I’m sure he recognizes it. Not just from his own experiences, but from some of the people around him too.”

Izuku knew who Dabi was. He knew his past, what he’s been through and what he inevitably became. Still, though, Izuku knew he wasn’t all bad. He knew that Dabi was still caring at heart, as shown with his sister. This was why Izuku hoped that one day he would go and visit his mother. He would have to talk to him about that.

—

Yui woke up the next day late. She was hours behind her usual wake-up schedule.

Of course, she had also gone to bed fairly late as well. There were multiple reasons for that, she knew, the major one being the immense stress the attack had given her. Thoughts of “what if” and similar others plagued her mind constantly as possible scenarios played like a movie in her head. Some good, some bad. In all honesty, it scared her to some extent.

When she wasn’t thinking about that though, her mind and body was infested with something else she couldn’t shake despite how hard she tried. The constant thoughts of hanging out with Izuku had a weird effect on her. It was odd. She never felt anything like it before. It was especially worse when she considered the thought of them alone together.

Due to her very low understanding of basic human emotional understanding and meaning, she decided to look it up under the presence “What does it mean when I feel weird about someone?” She thought it couldn’t hurt to try and find some kind of explanation.

A lot of the answers that came up confused her. The first thing she saw was something about trusting her gut and that weird feelings usually meant intuition. At first she thought ‘Does this mean I’m intuitive about Izuku?’ but upon further investigation she found that was not the case, nor did it make sense. A lot of the top responses were about creepy feelings or feelings someone would have that were bad, which she knew wasn’t the case.

The feeling she got was hard to explain, but it carried a weird type of warmth to it. It was different from a fire type of warmth, unlike normal heat, or the warmth that One for All gave her when she used it. No, it was different. It was more… comfortable and fuzzy, like she could snuggle up next to it all day.

She changed the prompt she was searching for to “What does it mean when i have a warm feeling about someone?”

Needless to say the answers here were a lot more descriptive and informative. She had to go deeper to find out the full extent of her problem though, with some of the things even made her blush, which was extremely uncharacteristic of her. Apparently, the warm fuzzies meant that she was ‘in love.’

At first she had no idea what being in love meant, or the implications it carried. She only knew that it was what she was feeling because the description of the feeling on multiple websites matched hers.

She decided to go deeper into her research, searching “What does it mean to be in love?” Needless to say this provided a lot more clarity to her and it helped her begin to understand. Apparently, being in love means desiring the happiness of your partner, admiring them for the individual they are, and feeling motivated to be a better person. If you are in love, you are driven to be compassionate, generous, and caring to your special someone. That was what the internet said, word for word, and that was exactly what she was feeling toward Izuku.

But she was also still confused on a lot of the other stuff. Did being in love mean that they were even better friends? She always considered him a really good friend. Like, the bestest friend. She thought that calling one another by their given names signifies that. She looked that up to, and apparently it was something even greater than friendship. She was shell shocked. There was something even greater than being friends?

Yes, there was, apparently. There were stages to it, as well. In most cases it usually starts with a friendship, but if both parties mutually have greater feelings for one another it can evolve into what’s called ‘dating.’ Then, after that, it can go even further to something called ‘lovers’, but that one seems optional, then if the two people mutually agree again they can become engaged which leads to marriage. She’s vaguely heard of the last two, mostly from her parent’s in an offhand line of dialogue they had. She never bothered to look into this stuff until now though, nor did she learn it in school or have anyone tell her about it. She found it all strangely fascinating, but that could just be because she was going through the possibility of it actually happening to her and wanted to know how to actually do things.

She knew what being married meant, and vaguely about being engaged. It’s as what her parents had, basically living together and whatnot. Now that she thought about it, why has it taken her so long to figure this stuff out?

She shook her head, refocusing back onto the task at hand. Curiously, she searched “What are dates?” and when some kind of plant came up she immediately changed her search to “What are couple dates?”

What came up was a lot of examples of what she could do on ‘dates’, as well as a definition on what it was. In summary, it was an event where two people got together to hang out and establish their connection to one another. There were apparently multiple ways people can go about going on a ‘date,’ like simply playing games, watching a movie, or eating out.

Before she could do anything else, her phone started to ring. Her eyes immediately snapped over to it and picked it up, quickly scanning the name of the calling. She unknowingly smiled at the name and answered the phone.

“Hello?” Yui spoke into the phone quickly upon answering.

“Hey, Yui. How are things?” He asked. Dare she believe she heard a bit of guilt in his voice.

She was thankful for his concern, “I’m… alright, thank you.”

He hummed thoughtfully into the phone. Maybe he didn’t really believe her? “Well, that’s good. I know things aren’t exactly easy right now.”

“Mm.” She agreed. “You were talking about hanging out yesterday?” Wait, hanging out? That didn’t mean that-

“Oh, yeah.” He spoke, a bit unsure. “I had some stuff earlier this morning to take care of, but I’m free for the rest of the day. I’m open to anything, if you’re up to it. I’m not the best at social get-togethers.”

She deadpanned. Neither was she, but sure, give her the choice. It was comedic, in a way, so she didn’t really mind. In the end, she chose something even she didn’t really expect, “How about we meet at my place?”

“Your apartment over here?” His voice suddenly changed. He seemed nervous. “Are you sure?”

“Mm. Positive.” No, she wasn’t positive, but she can’t deny what she ultimately wants.

“Well, aright, I guess. If you’re sure.” He said, he himself was still unsure about it. 

The call ended shortly after that, mostly because Yui was rushing off of the phone for multiple reasons. For one, she had to get ready to meet him and officially get all the way over there. Two, she still felt weird and needed to sort that out.

Was this going to be considered a date? This is what the websites said: two people alone together doing things can be considered a date. So, was it or was it not? Yui would just assume that it was and go with that.

She was curious, though. What exactly were ‘lovers’? Wouldn’t she have to know if this date went well? Was it a date? If it was she needed to know so logically she looked it up under “What do lovers do?” At first she got a song from some really old band, so she changed her search to “What do lovers do in a relationship?”

There were a lot of things that came up, including kissing, which was something her parents did a lot, that involved the touch of two people’s lips. The definition of a kiss was: touch with the lips as a sign of love, sexual desire, reverence, or greeting.

So should she greet Izuku with a kiss when he got to her place? That didn’t seem right, though, since kisses were something lovers did and they didn’t even have their date yet. She’d do that later, she guessed.

She was curious about some of the other stuff, too, so she decided it would be useful to research them in case of future use. This is where she started to develop uncharacteristic blushes and feelings even more. She looked up “sexual desires” since it had been in the kiss definition. That ended up branching in many different directions.

The definitions and practices were… detailed, to say the least. She didn’t indulge or get too carried away in looking at anything, though. She stopped herself before she got too deep, rightly recognizing that she wasn’t ready for that kind of stuff yet. She did, however, know the basics of what it meant. She usually bookmarked the rest for a later date.

With that, she decided she had enough of that and chose to get ready to go instead. She messaged Toshinori with a request to leave the premises to go to her apartment, which was approved. She got dressed in casual clothes, nothing that outright looked terrible but not something that looked too fancy either, and left. They had agreed to meet one another in around an hour and a half after the phone call, mostly for Yui’s convenience at getting ready due to her distance.

She got there with plenty of time to space and ended up waiting on her couch, eyes glued to the doors, as a nervous wreck. Sometimes she thought she was blessed for not being able to outwardly express emotion, because if she could then she would be a fidgeting mess. She had doubts about herself like: did she look good, was there something wrong with the place, and other similar thoughts. She didn’t know why she thought that way though, but suspected it had to do with Izuku coming over. 

Eventually, she heard a knock at her door which made her instantly freeze. The fears and doubts crawled at the back of her mind like tiny spiders, almost tickling her brain. Reluctantly, she stood up from her previous sitting position on the couch and drug her feet toward the door. She told herself to look her best, so she put on a smile that she hoped properly welcomed him into her little place she called a vacation home.

She opened the door, the smile on her face still. She immediately looked at her with a look of concern, “Yui, are you alright?”

‘Crap!’ She wailed in her head, just settling back into her neutral expression. She wasn’t sure why he suddenly asked that question, but what else was different about her usual look but the smile? So, she just got rid of it. “I’m fine.”

He seemed to just study her for a moment, before relinquishing his concern. Yui internally sighed in relief.

Yui stepped aside in an attempted gesture to welcome him inside, but he sort of just dumbly stared at her. She raised an eyebrow, truly unsure as to why he was still standing there, “You are welcome to come in.”

Upon that statement, he seemed to finally realize the implication of her action. His face immediately turned into a tomato, which in Yui’s opinion greatly contrasted to his broccoli hair. A part of her thought it was cute, actually, but that could have just been her love of tomatoes talking. But, she was also mildly concerned. Did she do something wrong? Was he embarrassed for some reason? Was he okay?

After a few seconds, he seemed to recompose himself enough to respond, “T-Thank you, Yui.” Then he stepped into the apartment, finally. He was definitely nervous, she could read. Why, she hadn’t a clue.

She closed the door behind him as he took his shoes off, placing them right next to her own pair of shoes. He was forced to roam this place without any footwear now, while she was able to wear comfortable slippers. She felt bad about it, honestly. She wanted to extend that to him, but didn’t have the materials to hand out. She could give him hers, but it was obvious that he wouldn’t be comfortable with that.

The two went further inside. Yui asked him if he wanted anything, but he politely declined. He hesitantly took a seat on the sofa while Yui took the time to prepare some tea, which she only recently learned how to make, just in case he wanted some.

The awkwardness that hung in the air was incredibly noticeable, and Yui found herself internally panicking. A boy was in her place, alone, on a ‘date’, and they were just sitting there awkwardly. The websites she looked at gave her a whole list of things to do so why couldn’t she make the effort to suggest them?! It was all just so frustrating!

Coincidentally, when the tea finished, Izuku finally decided to speak, “You play video games?”

The question was sudden and to the point. Usually, nothing would be wrong with that, especially if you were just asking that to a normal person. But Yui was not a normal person. She was far from normal. So, when he asked if she played video games, her head immediately snapped his way with a hint of a blush on her face.

‘Did I forget to hide it before he came?’ She considered in the midst of her panic. Usually, she would play her games comfortably in the living area. She lived by her lonesome, or she used to, so there was no problem with it. The only people that occasionally came to see her were her parents and she didn’t really mind if they knew. But this was Izuku. Oh she could only imagine what he must be thinking about her now. She was, in every sense of the word, doomed.

But, to her surprise, he was curiously inspecting the console she had under her fairly large television. He seemed genuinely interested in it. “What games do you have?” He looked at her, his facial expression showing clear excitement.

Despite her nervousness and fear, she could see the fascination in his face and dared to think he shared her interest in video games. She was shocked, to say the least. She thought he would think of her as a weirdo or something, considering that she heard that a lot of girls her age didn’t usually play video games. Still, she bit down her nerves and responded to his question, “I have a lot of hero fighting games. There are others too, but those are the main ones. They’re in the room over there if you want to look.”

She gave a hesitant point in the direction of the room in question, in which he quickly went to investigate for himself. She was sort of just left there with her thoughts as he went back there. She didn’t know what to think at the moment, but she did notice that the awkward atmosphere from before was somewhat dissipated now.

She brought the tray of tea over to the table in front of the couch, taking her own seat as she waited for Izuku to come back. And, speak for the devil, he came back in about a minute holding a few games in his hand. “I tried to find some of the best multiplayer games,” he commented, looking at her with a genuine smile. “A lot of them are story based, so I had some trouble finding suitable multiplayer experience games. You have really great taste in games, Yui!”

She didn’t know exactly what to make of the compliment, but something inside of her story of stirred. She felt the comforting warmth she now knew was a particular feeling. It was nice. But, she had to ask, “You’re not weirded out? You like games?”

He gave her a small, lighthearted laugh. It was like he was genuinely amused by her question. But, he answered nonetheless in a full honest statement. “Yeah, I like video games. Izumi and I like to play them in our spare time, sometimes. And no, I don’t care about if you like them or not. I won’t judge.”

She was utterly shocked by that statement. She didn’t expect him to be so… open and understanding about it. She threatened tears, almost. She was truly so glad to have someone in her life that wouldn’t judge her and would stick by her side no matter who she was or did. She felt like she wanted to do the same for him, too. Was that normal?

“Now,” he started, getting her attention. “I bet I can beat you in a game of Heroes vs. Villains: Ultimate.”

He was challenging her. He was really challenging her in a combat based video game. She wanted to pinch herself to make sure it was real. Despite that urge, she gave him her best competitive glare and nodded. His smile increased by the smallest margin as he went to fish two controllers from next to the consol. The next thing they knew was that they started the game and immediately got sucked in.

They played for hours, the crown titled ‘winner’ constantly being passed between them like it was the potato in the game ‘hot potato.’ As they played for what felt like hours, Yui’s mind couldn’t help but drift back to what had happened the day prior to this. The attack. A game about heroes and villains would do that to you.

After Izuku knocked out her character a little too easily, he knew something was up. He paused the game and turned to her, a look of concern on his face. She noticed his look and turned toward him as well. They both sort of just stared at one another until Izuku decided to speak up, “Is everything alright, Yui?”

She ended up shifting her gaze away after the question. Really, no, she wasn’t alright. Everything in the world was screwed up right now, and she didn’t know what to do. She was supposed to succeed the Symbol of Peace, but as something new. It was a huge responsibility and even harder with everything that was happening right now. 

But she unfortunately couldn’t tell him that, despite how much she really wanted to. Maybe she could convince Toshinori to let her tell people about the secret, since it was now her’s? Anyway, she decided to alter her concerns, “Not really,” she admitted sadly. “There’s just so much… so much happening right now. I don’t know how to deal with it. The attack yesterday was a message, and… I’m not sure...” she ended up trailing off, but her general point had ended up getting sent.

He looked at her for a moment before sighing. He put an arm around her in a side hug in an attempt to help comfort her. Yui found a strange warmth in his touch and an urge to lean into it, which she did. He then started to speak in a solemn and calm tone, “I know how you feel, Yui. If I was given a sudden message like that, I wouldn’t know how to receive it either.” His answer intrigued her. He continued after letting out a sad sighed, “When I was younger, people around me sent a clear message that I didn’t receive. This led to… a lot of unpleasant things happening.” He glanced away, “I think, for this, it’s meant for the world. A message was sent to the world. A clear message. But, it’s up to them to receive it. Or else…”

Yui understood, even as he trailed off. The message was, indeed clear. Izuku was right. It was up to the world to take the message that was sent to heart, or else the bad things Izuku compared the situation to would end up taking place.

But, it concerned her. Izuku subtly shared something about his past that broke her heart. She pressed herself against him a little more, but she wasn’t sure if it was for herself or for him. He needed to know that she was here for him, though. She hoped that he received that message through the contact.

He spoke again, “Yui, you’re a hero. A very, very good hero.” His voice was so genuine and sincere that it surprised her. “Don’t ever forget that it’s never just your responsibility alone.”

She stared up at him, her eyes just a little more widened. She developed a small smile, “You're a hero too.”

Her sudden declaration seemed to make him jolt in surprise, which was actually more amusing to Yui than annoying, since her comfortable position was compromised. “I-I’m not a hero. I can’t be a hero.” He looked off to the side, somewhat flustered and even annoyed. She didn’t let that bother or stop her, though.

“You’re my hero,” she confirmed, making him turn his head to look at her in mild shock. Her small smile never faltered. She was completely confident in this declaration. She then started to admit, albeit a little embarrassingly, “You always keep inspiring me to keep moving forward. To keep being the best hero I can be. So, for that, you’re my hero.”

He blushed and looked off to the side. She felt like she could just giggle at his facial expression. It really was amusing. After around a minute, he suddenly shouted, “Alright! Back to the game, right Yui?!”

Oh dear he looked like a deer in headlights. She better say yes to that question before he gets hit by the car. So, say yes to that question she did, and the two resumed their gaming session.

Overtime Yui felt as if her own worries were starting to dissolve and fade away. She didn’t know the exact reason why, but she had her suspicions. During a break in their match, she spared a glance in his direction. He was focused on the screen, looking ahead with calculated and analytical eyes. He seemed to have recovered from his outburst earlier. Somehow, she knew it was because of him, and she couldn’t be any happier about it on the inside.

But, all good times must come to an end. In the middle of one of their games, Yui’s phone violently buzzed. She paused the game, with Izuku giving her an odd expression. She was annoyed, but the call could be important so she decided to check it out.

When she looked to see who was calling her, she was surprised, to say the least. She didn’t expect him to call her so soon. She answered the call, “Togata, what’s-”

“Kodai! It’s Nighteye! He’s been attacked! I’m on my way over there now-”

He started to say more, but Yui ended up drowning it out. Things just kept getting worse and worse, didn’t they?

—

A/N: I feel like I’m going to use a lot of U.A. staff meetings in the future. Ha! You’ll see them a lot, I think, or at least different forms of them a lot in the future, probably.

I found the Yui stuff, especially where she was looking up feelings and stuff, really fun to write. She’s someone clueless about that sort of thing, so I think I did a decent job portraying that. I hope you all imagined Yui sitting at her computer for a long time just endlessly searching this stuff as entertaining as I did. Like, Izuku and Izumi are having a bit of a moment while Yui’s having an existential crisis.

Also, yeah, no action this chapter. I wanted to focus more on the aftermath of what happened and how everyone is moving forward and/or trying to deal with it. You’ll be getting action in the next chapter, though. A lot of it, actually. It’ll be the main focus. I’m sure you know one of the main battles, just from the obvious context clues here, but there’s another one I’m looking forward to in the next chapter. I’ll tell you what, though, very soon you get a Mysterio fight!!!

I was gonna put the Nighteye stuff in this chapter, but I felt like I’d take too long or something. Plus, I think I’d work better in the next chapter.

I know that the warehouse was really bizarre, but like I said you’ll understand why it’s that way in the future. I did give you a hit of a hint by referencing how the Overhaul base was similar to it, along with another hint. They’re very vague, but possible to figure out. 

Also, Dabi just received a huge upgrade and buff. I have an arc planned specifically for him later in the story so I feel he needs to be at least a little stronger for it to successfully be used in the story.

Scorpion and a few other new baddies will also be coming in soon, I should note.

I’ll actually tell you guys that I have a potential ending planned for the main story. It’s not for a long way away, though, so don’t worry about that too much. Just thought you should know that I’m looking ahead.

I’m also gonna day now that Yui is gonna have her first major foe coming up, the after that it’s Katsuki’s turn to face his.

And for those wondering, I have a lot planned for the Heroes Rising movie. It’ll be different from what you all saw, but I have stuff planned for Nine and the plot of the movie. I’m not going to spill about anything regarding that stuff, though, as it’s going to be a huge influence on the plot, I think, probably. Things may be subject to change.

Shinso will be back soon, don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about him.

Well, I had to get this chapter out today. I felt like I would be behind again if I didn’t. Also, it’s Izuku and Mirio’s birthday, so yeah. Or, at least it was when I wrote this. Whoops.

I’ve had some internet issues for the past couple of days, too. So, again, sorry.

On one last note, the title of this chapter is actually multi-meaning. It not only refers to the message Izuku sent to the world last chapter, but for something else to everyone as well. For Dabi, he got new equipment and was formally welcomed as a part of the team. For Katsuki, he received people he can train with and now has a goal. For Yui, she discovered the true extent of her feelings, to a certain extent. I hope that explanation makes sense.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Next one will be action packed, so stay tuned!


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